Why do some houses or apartments in the US not include a washing machine and dryer?

Some renters have their own washing machine and dryer. If they do, then they want to hook them up and use them. Some landlords will give tenants the option of with or without the washer and dryer.

Landlords find maintenance on a community laundry room to be less expensive than hookups for individual units. Also, since they are coin op, the machines are earning back their cost.

Some people don’t take care of their washer and dryer. They might put dye in them or they could be rusty. I, for one, do not want to use someone else’s washer if I can help it. Maybe sellers and landlords realize this, so don’t offer that option.

Washers and dryers break. If the apartment owner supplies them, it is one more think that the landlord is responsible for fixing. And they don’t want to be in the appliance repair business.

Washers and dryers are a two-fold liability for both fire and water damage. They are appliances that are prone to breakdown and be damged through operator error. All of the above are reasons why a landlord would not supply them.
Many apartment complexes will have an on site coin operated laundry room though.

Have you ever had a two year old that puts a box of crayola in their pockets? And then those pockets went through the machines? I have and it fucks things up.

Best your rugrats screw up your machines.

In the city I work in, new luxury units are being built that have stacking washer/dryers in the units. However, rents in those high end luxury buildings would be about 3–4k per month. For that amount of rent, it’s worth it for the LL to supply the appliances, and the renter probably has the high security (2 months so about 6–8k) so if the machines are screwed up other than normal wear and tear. it comes out of security deposit.

Not enough room. And most renters or new home owners don’t have that equipment yet. When I bought my 720 sq. ft. home, there was a spot for a washing machine in the kitchen (!), but the dryer had been wired in out in the shed on the car port. Not only did the original clothes line exist, somebody had installed another merry-go-round type of clothes line out in the yard. (Just try to find a house these days that has a clothes line!!!)

@chyna Amen to that! 100% agree.

First world problem.

Laundry hook-ups are more complicated to build out in an apartment. Many dryers need special electrical or gas, plus installation for dryer lint exhaust, and washers require more plumbing,

It is a lot easier for an apartment building to have a separate laundry room for the building with multiple washers and dryers.

No smart landlord is going to provide a washer and dryer even in a furnished apartment unless it is a luxury high rent facility. The machines are too vulnerable to abuse from tenants. Even in furnished apartments, the standard major appliances included as furnishings” are usually restricted to a stove and a refrigerator. From the landlord’s point of view, why be saddled with the expense of the machines and their maintenance?

There is always a danger of the washing machine drain getting plugged and the water damaging the floors.

@kritiper How do we prevent that? Never crossed my mind.

Another reason against having them is that if there are machines in the apartment, people will tend to do more laundry. I know when I’m on vacation and we stay at resorts that have machines in the unit, I will do laundry constantly. I’ll do a load with just a few things, so I never have dirty laundry. That uses more water than if a tenant goes out to do laundry or goes downstairs to do a load or two in the laundry room.

I love these answers.
With apartment space at a premium here, cheaper apartments are hard to find. Add a washer and dryer, the price goes up considerably.

@KNOWITALL How does one prevent that? Don’t install plumbing hookups for them.

@kritiper Ok. I thought I was missing a home maintenance step. Thx.