Replacing a full appliance package in a Middle Tennessee rental typically runs somewhere between $2,500 and $5,000 installed for builder grade equipment, and the individual pieces land in fairly predictable ranges: a range at $600 to $1,100 installed, a dishwasher at $550 to $1,000, an over the range microwave at $300 to $600, and a refrigerator at $850 to $1,600. Where you land inside those ranges depends on three things: whether you buy landlord grade or mid tier, whether the install is a straight swap or needs electrical, plumbing, or venting work, and whether you are paying for delivery and haul away separately.

Below is the full breakdown, the repair or replace math that actually holds up, and the decision most owners get backwards.

Installed cost ranges, appliance by appliance

These are typical Middle Tennessee market ranges for equipment plus standard installation, not quotes. Every one of them moves with the specific unit, the access, and what the existing hookups look like.

  • Electric freestanding range: $600 to $1,100 installed. The equipment is the bulk of it. A straight swap into an existing 240 volt outlet is fast. Discovering the outlet is a three prong on a circuit that needs a four prong is what moves the number.
  • Gas range: $750 to $1,400 installed. Add cost if the flex connector, shutoff valve, or sediment trap needs to be brought current.
  • Dishwasher: $550 to $1,000 installed. Installation is more involved than people expect. Water supply, drain connection with a high loop or air gap, and a dedicated electrical connection. Old cabinets that were built around a slightly different opening add labor.
  • Over the range microwave: $300 to $600 installed. Mounting bracket, cabinet screws, and venting. If it converts from recirculating to ducted, that is a different job.
  • Refrigerator, top freezer, 18 to 21 cubic feet: $850 to $1,600 delivered and set. Add for an ice maker line that does not exist yet.
  • Side by side or French door refrigerator: $1,400 to $2,600. Rarely the right call in a rental. More features means more failure points and higher replacement cost on the next cycle.
  • Washer and dryer pair: $1,000 to $2,000 installed. Add for a dryer vent that needs rerouting or a gas dryer conversion.
  • Garbage disposal: $200 to $400 installed. One of the few where the labor is a real share of the total.
  • Range hood, ducted: $250 to $600 installed.

Two line items that quietly get left off budgets: delivery and haul away, often $50 to $150 depending on the retailer and whether the old unit comes out, and disposal of the old appliance if the retailer will not take it. Refrigerators with refrigerant have their own handling requirements.

The repair or replace threshold

The rule that holds up across most appliance decisions: if the repair costs more than half the installed replacement cost, and the unit is past two thirds of its expected life, replace it. Apply both halves of that test, not one.

Typical service life for rental grade equipment runs roughly like this, and it varies a lot with usage and water quality:

  • Refrigerator: 10 to 15 years
  • Electric or gas range: 13 to 15 years
  • Dishwasher: 9 to 12 years
  • Over the range microwave: 8 to 10 years
  • Washer: 10 to 13 years
  • Dryer: 10 to 13 years
  • Garbage disposal: 8 to 12 years

Run it on a real example. A 9 year old dishwasher needs a control board, quoted at $400. Installed replacement is $700. The repair is 57% of replacement on a unit at roughly 80% of its life. Replace it. The same $400 repair on a 3 year old unit is an easy repair.

The number people forget in that math is the second trip. A repair that fails four months later costs you the repair, the replacement, and a second tenant disruption. On borderline calls in an occupied unit, that risk pushes toward replacement more often than the raw arithmetic does. We use the same framework on bigger systems, and it is laid out in more detail in repair or replace on HVAC, roofs, and water heaters, with expected lifespans across the whole property in how long home systems last.

What to actually buy for a rental

Four rules that save money over a ten year hold.

1. Buy the simplest version that works

Touchscreen controls, ice and water in the door, steam cycles, and app connectivity are all additional failure points on equipment a tenant did not choose and will not baby. A basic top freezer refrigerator and a coil top range are cheaper to buy, cheaper to fix, and easier to source parts for.

2. Standardize across your portfolio

Same brand, same two or three models across every unit you own. One parts inventory, one set of dimensions, and a technician who already knows the equipment. On a portfolio of any size this saves more than the per unit purchase price ever will.

3. Match the finish, not the tier

Mismatched appliances read as neglect in a listing photo and cost you real showings. Matching stainless or matching white in the same finish family is worth doing. Upgrading the tier usually is not.

4. Buy in the off season where you can plan for it

Appliance pricing is promotional. If you know a range is on its last year, you have the option of buying it on a holiday sale rather than on the Tuesday it dies.

Should you supply appliances at all?

In most Middle Tennessee single family and small multifamily rentals, a range and refrigerator are effectively expected, and a dishwasher and microwave are close to it in anything built in the last thirty years. Washer and dryer are the genuine decision.

Supplying laundry widens your applicant pool, supports rent, and removes the risk of a tenant installing a machine badly and flooding a unit. It also means you own two more appliances, two more service calls, and a hookup you are responsible for.

Not supplying laundry saves the capital and the maintenance, and it narrows your market, particularly in units competing with newer product that includes it.

The way to decide is to look at what comparable listings in that specific submarket include, not what feels right. If every comparable unit in Smyrna at your price point includes a washer and dryer, yours needs to.

Timing replacement with a turnover

An appliance replaced during a vacancy costs the appliance. The same appliance replaced in an occupied unit costs the appliance, a scheduling negotiation, an access window, and a tenant relationship. When a unit turns and an appliance is inside two years of the end of its life, replacing it while the unit is empty is almost always cheaper in total.

This is the same logic behind bundling everything else into the turn window. Punch list, paint, flooring, and appliances all happen faster and cheaper in an empty unit on one schedule, and every day the unit sits with work half done is a day of lost rent. Our turn sequencing is in the rental make ready checklist, and the package options are on the turnovers page.

Documentation that protects you later

Photograph the model and serial plate on every appliance at install and keep the receipt. Three reasons it pays off:

  • Warranty claims require proof of purchase date, and most people cannot produce it two years later.
  • Depreciation. Appliances are typically depreciated separately from the building on a shorter schedule. Your CPA needs the date and the amount, and that is a tax question worth putting in front of them rather than guessing at.
  • Security deposit disputes. A dated photo of a functioning appliance at move in is the difference between a documented damage claim and an argument. Where the line falls between normal wear and actual damage under Tennessee law is covered in wear and tear vs damage in Tennessee.

How we handle it

Upkeep Property Maintenance is Middle Tennessee's full service property maintenance company, licensed and insured, and appliance swaps are routine work for us alongside the plumbing and electrical they usually touch. We quote flat, we confirm requests within two business hours, and routine work gets scheduled within 48 hours. Every job closes with photos and an itemized invoice, which is exactly the documentation this article says you should be keeping.

If you have a unit turning or an appliance on its last legs, you can send us the details and we will get you a number. Property managers running volume across a portfolio can see how we handle intake and reporting on the property managers page.

Prices in this article are typical market ranges as of 2026 and are not a quote. Tax treatment of appliance purchases is a question for your CPA.