These days a lot of work goes into selling a home with a pool
Dec 02, 2022Marketwise column
By Pat Kapowich | Published:November 29, 2022 | For the Bay Area News Group and its flagships The Mercury News and East Bay Times
Q: The seller’s agent we hired to list our home suggests removing our swimming pool and has been arranging free estimates for the removal. He also has landscape designers and gardeners ready to provide a so-called free walk-through of the backyard for ideas and costs. It is also surprising because he never mentioned this topic until we signed his employment contract.
Is it best to sell a home with or without a swimming pool?
A: The answer to this question requires a seller to think about how much work, time, money and effort they want to put into fixing the pool to be ready for buyers. Selling a home with a pool is much different nowadays than how homes used to be sold with pools. It’s no longer a luxury to just have the pool anymore. Nowadays, there are standards, protocols and luxuries that play a role.
If you want a pool to be an asset now, you can’t just bury the wording deep in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) remarks. You must also be conscious that the fence gate can close and lock, that there is a child-proof cover or pool perimeter barrier fence, and that the deep and shallow ends are distinct. In addition, upkeep of the pool is crucial. You must consider if the pool, tiles and concrete apron show their ages. The pool and equipment also must be inspected, cleaned, serviced or repaired.
When homes became a retreat in March 2020, swimming pools began to make a comeback. Whether for recreation or fitness, pools enhanced pandemic life.
The new way to sell a house with a swimming pool requires focus and action. Savvy home sellers and their agents will research the cost of removing versus refurbishing a swimming pool and its components. However, renovating a pool’s walls, tile, coping, concrete apron and equipment does wonders for marketing.
The downside is that liability settlements for swimming pool accidents are sky high. So, it’s best to remove a diving board and adequately mark the depths of the swimming pool during a renovation. If you are unable or unwilling to remove, revamp or inspect a swimming pool and its components, ensure all the safety concerns listed in California Senate Bill 442 are in place. See my interview with a retired home inspector, who is a former swimming pool contractor, discussing swimming pools and improvements. The other alternative is to remove the pool altogether.
There are other variables for every prospective home seller who owns a pool, such as yard size, the time of year of selling, warmer or cooler climate, and housing inventory. Turn this removal of the swimming pool surprise into an advantage. Have your seller’s agent put all the possible factors on a spreadsheet. Collectively decide how to proceed and what is best for your situation and net proceeds.
If the pool hasn’t been used in years and needs a total refurbishment, it may be best to remove it altogether versus a homebuyer seeing it as a task they’re not up to taking on. If you sell with a swimming pool, insist your seller’s agent describe how he will properly market it.
Otherwise, he is gambling against the odds.
Questions? Or are you or someone you know navigating life’s transitions? Let lauded negotiator Pat Kapowich make your next move easy. Visit Kapowich’s website for free area housing data, insights and trends. Or put his artful blend of specialized credentials, decades of experience and endorsed skill set to work for you. Kapowich instills confidence when buying, selling, relocating or resizing homes. Do not just make a move — make the best move. Contact him today, Realtor Pat Kapowich, a career-long consumer-protection advocate.
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