For or against fridges with water and ice makers?

[Tiamo Wright]

I was chatting with a property management company and they said that they recommend that if a unit has water and ice maker on the door to switch that refrigerator with one that doesn't. Their point was that most of their large damage they dealt with was with regards to fridges leaking which surprised me. My property is Class A so I would assume tenants would expect such conveniences as water and ice going to the fridge. Has anyone had any issues with their fridges or thoughts on this in general?

[Karl B.]

I'll tell you about my experience with them. In one of my C-class multi-family properties one of the apartments had a fridge with an ice maker. The plastic tube that brings water to the fridge to make ice cubes became brittle, broke and water leaked all over the kitchen floor. From that point on I made certain there would be no more ice makers. 

Also, ice makers tend to break before the legit, essential fridge parts go bad (compressor, control board, etc.). If a tenant moves in and there's no ice maker it's simply another thing that won't potentially damage your property or require a costly repair. 

In closing :-) I've never heard of a potential tenant not moving into a property because the fridge doesn't have an ice maker.