One question I get asked a lot by people buying houses to renovate and flip is “Should I put in a pool?“. Anyone who has watched Miami Vice, Bad Boys, HGTV or Burn Notice has a picture in their mind of every Florida house having a pool in the yard. Answering this question is not as simple as it seems. There are a lot of pros and cons to having a pool in your house come resale time.
The biggest positive feature I see it having a pool in the yard is appearance and curb appeal. People have a mental picture in their mind of a luxury Florida home having a vast pool with tropical landscaping. Curb appeal is very important when selling a home. Many buyers will decide if they like or do not like the house before they even get out of their car. The old expression “First impressions are lasting impressions“ holds true here. Another positive reason for having a pool is families with children. Children love a pool. Also, with Florida being a huge retirement state, think of grandchildren. The grandchildren will be very happy to visit grandma and grandpa when they can play in the pool before or after going out on the boat for an afternoon of fun. Children who want to visit their grandparents make for very happy grandparents. Buyers will often see that pool and picture themselves lounging in the water watching sunset with a glass of wine or getting in water exercise and they overlook all the work and maintenance that comes with the pool.
Some of the same thoughts that make a pool a positive feature can however also make a pool a negative feature. People with children and grandchildren could look at the pool as being dangerous. Parents and grandparents can picture themselves spending their entire day looking after and worrying about the little ones in the pool. Also, anyone who has or has had a pool in their yard will tell you maintaining it is a lot of work. Another negative aspect of putting a pool in as part of your renovation project is personal taste. Some people want a pool they can lounge in while enjoying cocktails. Some people want a pool with a shallow end in a deep and so their children can play. Some people want to pool for exercise where they can swim laps. A pool that I feel works perfectly may be a pool a buyer feels is useless.
After 21 years of selling real estate in the Florida Keys my opinion on putting in a pool is it something you do for your own enjoyment and use but not for resale. It is very rare you will get back a return on investment where you break even never mind make a profit. Spending $30,000-$50,000 on a designer pool will very rarely increase your sale price by $30,000-$50,000 or more. I have also seen a lot more buyers shy away from my house because it does have a pool then I have buyers who refuse to buy a house because it does not have a pool. My advice to sellers who have enough yard space to add a pool is skip the pool, list it for the value without the pool and put in the listing description “Plenty of yard space to add a pool or make for a great entertaining area“. That will put the pool in the buyers mind, let them know there is enough room to add the pool and they can use the money they saved on the list price to design their pool the way they want it rather than to take the design someone else picked out that may or may not suit their needs.
If you are considering selling your house or just want some ideas on features that will make it more marketable, call me anytime for a free comparative market analysis giving you an estimate of value for your home. There is absolutely no cost or obligation to you for this service.
Gary
Gary McAdams, PA
