The Lifespan and Cost of Kitchen Appliances When Home Selling

Considering the cost of kitchen appliances, when you are selling a home, sometimes it is less expensive to buy new. Why would you buy new appliances to sell a home? For starters, they might be the wrong color. Yes, color matters. For example, white is not a popular color anymore. That doesn’t mean if your entire kitchen is white that you need to remodel because you do not. Yet, older kitchens with oak cabinets and white appliances and white ceramic counters might get passed over by today’s homebuyers or you may need to lower the price of the home to compensate.

Free-standing ranges tend to take a beating over the years. Often the grates and burners become impossible to clean if regular maintenance is not practiced. Those pieces of a gas range, for example, are very expensive to replace. In many situations, you will find it is far cheaper to buy a brand new gas range than to replace parts.

Now, the cost of kitchen appliances can vary depending on whether you are buying new appliances to use for several years before selling or if you plan on selling immediately. Most homeowners will spend more to get features they desire and value if they plan on personally using the appliances. But when you’re selling, buyers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the features. They will notice the color, though, and whether it is new.

The cost of kitchen appliances also varies with the color. White is cheapest. For a reason. Nobody really likes white except absentee landladies and landlords. Stainless steel is preferred. Close to first position of stainless steel is black or black on stainless steel.

My husband asked why I was looking at gas ranges one morning, after he rolled out of bed. He could see my monitor from the hallway since it is a 40-inch television screen, heh, heh. Doing research for a seller. I help in any way I can. Just for your own edification, below is the lifespan of kitchen appliances as noted by Consumer Reports:

Lifespan of Kitchen Appliances

• A gas range: 15 years (13 for electric)
• A dishwasher: 9 years
• A microwave: 9 years
• A refrigerator: 13 years

One thing I noticed when we shopped for a new refrigerator a few months back is they are making free-standing refrigerators MUCH wider and MUCH taller. When remodeling, it is probably a good idea to allow for expansion of size in a space for a refrigerator. If you need a 33-inch wide refrigerator, like we did, the selections are greatly reduced.

Since one of my clients is considering replacing the dishwasher, stove and microwave in their home before selling, I decided to look at a few top vendor websites to determine how much it would cost. The cost of the kitchen appliances were fairly close, and I sent links to my sellers. They will get the money back upon resale.

I include the cost of the low-end kitchen appliances here for you, but bear in mind these are low-cost for brand new. They might not be what you would want for your own home. But if you’re selling, it’s only your home until a buyer makes an offer, you accept and it closes.

Cost of Kitchen Appliances

FILCO Superstores cost of kitchen appliances: $891.89

• Amana black gas range: $426
• Whirlpool black dishwasher: $297
• Whirlpool 1.7 over-the-range black microwave: $168.99

RCWiley cost of kitchen appliances: $909.68

• Frigidaire black gas range: $449.99
• Frigidaire black dishwasher: $279.99
• Samsung 1.6 over-the-range black microwave: $179.99

Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores cost of kitchen appliances: $817.99

• Whirlpool black gas range: $419.00
• Frigidaire black dishwasher: $259.00
• Unknown manufacturer 1.6 over-the-range black microwave (uninstalled) $139.99

Prices subject to change. may not include installation or delivery fees.