I went through most of my life with a couple of cast iron skillets and a bunch of aluminum and non-magnetic stainless cookware. I would have hated to wind up with an induction cooktop in a rental. Only the cast iron would have worked.

As you describe it, your rental is in an upscale area, so you might be fine targeting the All-Clad/Le Crueset crowd. Just be aware that you will be creating a barrier for otherwise quality renters who don't want to buy new cookware just to move into a rental.

You can get a decent set of induction ready cookware for a couple hundred dollars. Let the tenants keep 'em if they stay a couple of years. I think that if you provide a set with a page or two explaining induction cooking, you'll satisfy those in the lovely amenities crowd who aren't already familiar with induction. You'll lose the one who won't cook in anything but granny's heirloom Mauviel, but, in general, I'd guess that being open to induction cooking would be a good desirability test for tenants. And Kelly Ripa advertises induction, nowadays, so surely most people have at least heard of it.

No one likes other kinds of glass cooktops much, so the lovely amenities alternative is open flame gas. For you, as a landlord, the cleanliness and safety of induction is a big win.

It's a personal decision, but I'll share my opinion since I'm a landlord also. I would never put an induction cooktop or range in a rental. I usually just put in the cheapest possible appliances I can find that are available in stainless steel and aren't complete bottom of the line apartment grade trash (usually ends up being Frigidaire or Whirlpool) and have the basic features that many people expect these days like self clean and maybe even a glass radiant cooktop.

The one exception to this was on my "high end" rental where I put a Jenn Air package w/ prostyle range. Still not top of the line, but a big step up. However, I did this because there is a big difference in many people's minds between a 30" electric range and a large gas pro range when they see a kitchen.

In your case, I don't think having an induction cooktop would make any difference to the type of tenants you attract or the rent you can charge. They look exactly the same on the outside as radiant cooktops. Most people I've talked to about them don't even know what an induction cooktop is. I wouldn't at all call it a "lusted after" item. Plus, there is the issue with cookware as mentioned above, and when it breaks (because just like all appliances, it eventually will) it will be much more expensive to repair.

The one time I would put an induction cooktop in a rental is if it were a vacation or seasonal rental where I might be spending a significant amount of time myself and wanted to enjoy the benefits of induction.

With a good price for the unit and if you supply some cookware I would recommend going ahead. You will have a quality component not usually available. Once your tenants use it, it becomes part of the attractiveness that will help keep them there long-term.

I would not do it. I think a lot of prospective tenants won't know what induction is. And many of those won't bother to research it and understand that it is great, instead they will think of it as a smooth top radiant electic cooktop and be unimpressed.

The cookware issue just makes it worse. No one will want to buy new cookware for a rental. And if you supply it, I think you will have to supply new for each new tenant because people will be turned off by used cookware. And some will want stainless and some will want non-stick and some will want cast iron. And no one will want to have to store the set you provide and the stuff they already have.

I guess the exception would be if this is supposed to be a furnished and very high end rental. Then the cookware would be expected anyway and perhaps the prospective tenants would already know about induction? I'm not sure induction has suffient market saturation even at the high end for most people to recognize it though.

I also think there is a bit of a risk of tenants not taking proper care of the cooktop and scratching it. A gas cooktop seems less prone to damage, I think.

I love my induction range and never want to go back to gas, but I think induction is just too new and too complicated in terms of the pots and pans situation to be a plus in a typical rental.