Can You Recoup a Tankless Water Heater’s Cost When Selling a Home?

When you move into a house, you may install some upgrades. Maybe you’ll install outside security lights if you don’t have any. You might want a garbage disposal or a new dishwasher.

You may consider a new tankless water heater. A high-end tankless water heater can cost $6,400, but you might feel it’s worth it. You can enjoy it while you live in that house. It won’t take up as much room as a traditional water heater, and you can have hot water while showering and running the dishwasher.

You might wonder whether you can recoup the expense when you sell the house, though. Let’s discuss that right now.

Do Other Houses Around Yours Have Tankless Water Heaters as Well?

When considering whether you can recoup your tankless water heater’s cost when you sell your home, you must consider whether other houses in your neighborhood have one. You can’t know whether that’s the case with every house around you, though you can ask your neighbors.

You might also see whether nearby homes have tankless water heaters if you look at Zillow or Redfin when one nearby goes on the market. The listing should mention a tankless water heater.

If not many houses around you have tankless water heaters, you can probably recoup the cost when you sell your home. You can mention the tankless water heater when you talk about the home’s upgrades.

If all the other houses around you have tankless water heaters, then that upgrade seems like the norm, and potential buyers might not think it’s special or unique. If your house has this, though, and ones nearby mostly don’t, you should feel sure you can add the tankless water heater’s cost to the overall asking price, and someone will most likely pay it.

You Can Negotiate with the Buyer if They Want the Tankless Water Heater

When you list a home for sale, you can mention explicitly what you’ll leave with the house and what you’ll bring with you. You can leave a tankless water heater or bring it along with you when you go.

If you mention you’ll negotiate with a potential buyer regarding the tankless water heater, they can change the offer price accordingly. If you say you’ll take the water heater with you, they might offer less.

If they want it, though, you can counter their offer with a higher one. You can insist they pay the water heater’s initial cost minus depreciation if you’ve had it for a few years.

You might not get back every dollar you paid for the tankless water heater when you sell the house, but it’s likely you’ll at least get consideration from possible buyers if you have one. Most homebuyers think that’s a nice upgrade, and they should give your house more careful consideration because it’s there.

That tankless water heater could mean a sale if a buyer also likes other features your home offers.