The refrigerator in one of my rentals is 30 years old, and I know that because I bought it new when I bought my house that I live in now, and it went to the garage when we remodeled the kitchen 15 years ago and then to a rental when I needed a fridge in a pinch 10 years ago.

I also live about 5 mins from the property and have leftover appliances from my parents old house that I can put in there like a fridge and microwave.

Stainless appliances (fridge, micro-hood, dishwasher, range oven) can usually be purchased on sale from Home Depot or Lowes for less than $1500 if you mix/match.

When I went to check on the fridge on the same day, I saw it is operating fine after a quick inspection.

If the fridge goes out, they're really inconvenienced.I have a tenant right now that has been without a dryer for two months thanks to a mistake we made in our office.

I think the couple of scenarios below (REAL stories from people I know who have done exactly what you are describing) may help with this point:- Tenant doesn't know the first thing about home maintenance; you get a call because the fridge goes out at 10PM on a Saturday.

Chicken nuggets left in the stove, rotten food in the fridge and just generalized yuk.But overall, I was pretty lucky.  

If you're just doing a wet bar (aka no stove, just a sink, microwave, fridge and hot plate) you can get an over the counter, or STFI (subject to field inspection) permit in under a week. 

How easy is it to get stuff fixed like fridges, AC units, water heaters?   

I print it on construction paper and stick it on the front of the fridge.