Pools add value

[Ed Barton]

Or do they?

Ignoring the pros/cons of a pool in an IP, does a place with a pool attract a higher sales price? If so, is it more/less than the cost of building the pool? Does it vary by city? Other?

I overhear people saying both extremes, and I'm not talking about serious PIs. "I'd buy it if it didn't have a pool". "oh, it's got a pool, it will sell for more than x(comparable)"

I'm of the view that a pool in Brisbane adds nothing to the potential sales price. What's your view?

 

[Mitch1]

when we were purchasing PPOR in brisbane a pool was on the list or at least the space to put a pool. I know a number of people (mostly with young families so a relatively large 'pool' of buyers imo) who also have this as one of their wants when purchasing.

a pool will cost anything from 30k to 80k depending on install/access difficulty and spec,(some are architect designed and have a wow factor) if one is in place, I would personally have paid extra for the house with a pool because that was on our 'must have' list.

that said, we bought a house without because it ticked every other box and put the pool in ourselves. while we have had cg on the house the estate agent confirmed it also added to it by approx 45k (it cost more than that to put in due to difficulty with access but it gets a lot of use we wont get our money back but it can be a plus selling factor and as our house is definitely a family home it will hopefully work out that way.
it will all come down to area I think (high resi/young families 3+ beds etc)

 

[Kinnon Bell]

I'm not sure about a higher sales price but perhaps more sale-able. When I was looking for a new PPOR I had a pool on one of my want items and then found myself being drawn to only houses with pools.

Ended up buying a house will a pool but don't think I paid more for the pool itself, but then again this is the Cairns market so pools are pretty much the norm.

 

[Scott No Mates]

If you're lucky a pool will be valued at its cost of construction less depreciation etc.

It is more an emotional and lifestyle decision for the occupant whether it has value. Sinking $50k into a pool equates to thousands of visits to the local "muni-****-all " pool which may be better spent elsewhere.

 

[INVSTOR]

It appears to depend on suburb. My parents have a concrete 12 metre pool, 10k's from city on Brisbane's Southside they want to fill in but many local agents have talked them out of it. When I was researching Parkinson an agent told me pools were sought after. One of the properties I was considering that had been on the market for a while didn't have a pool and RE Agent commented he could have sold it several times if it had a pool. I ended up purchasing a property with above ground pool. I bought property in winter and I feel it would sell quickly if I sold it in summer.
I'm about to sell a Perth property without pool and agent commented with or without pool for my area didn't matter for buyers demand.

 

[tess85]

That's interesting to hear the thoughts re: pools - when I was hunting for my PPOR I excluded anything with a pool (really didn't want to bother with filling it in, and we were dead set on not owning a pool). Then again being in Sydney perhaps having a pool is not as essential as being, say, in Brisbane...

 

[Harro]

That's interesting to hear the thoughts re: pools - when I was hunting for my PPOR I excluded anything with a pool (really didn't want to bother with filling it in, and we were dead set on not owning a pool). Then again being in Sydney perhaps having a pool is not as essential as being, say, in Brisbane...

True about Sydney. But I certainly wouldn't want to live in the Tropics without a pool.

 

[westminster]

Perth houses sell for more if they have a pool. Whether you get back the cost of the pool is a probably not but it depends on how insanely expensive you make it.

I know people who have spent $100k on a pool and they probably will see half of that back

 

[tang]

True about Sydney. But I certainly wouldn't want to live in the Tropics without a pool.

+1 depends on the subarb.

i am in 'burbs sydney. cannot afford to have a pool where the it is an investment property in a location with future potential to develop.
half the area is already rezoned to med-density.
having said that, my most recent investment has a pool b/c we purchased at lower than market. its been a few months, filled with algae....HELP!!! $$$____$$$$

heard u can get soil from council for free....something ill have to look into!!!

 

[Jaggannath]

I'm not sure about a higher sales price but perhaps more sale-able. When I was looking for a new PPOR I had a pool on one of my want items and then found myself being drawn to only houses with pools.

I believe this is the conventional wisdom, and it's what I adhere to. Personally I would never buy a place with a pool if I could avoid it, I can't be bothered and because I move around a lot, it'd be an extra worry when sourcing tenants.

 

[serendip]

I think it definitely depends where you are. Pools don't seem to make a price gain inner suburbs of Newcastle for example as the beach is not far away & the yards are usually fairly small therefore you're trading most of your backyard. Not sure about further out though....