Pools at Rental Properties - Good or Bad? Keep or Fill in?

Question

We are in the process of buying #2. (Waiting on financing, hope to know soon.) Anyways the house details are below.

This is a SHF, that we plan to convert to a duplex. (2-2bedroom units) The lower unit will have 2 big bedrooms (12x14 and 10x14) large kitchen, large bathroom, large living room etc. - currently the back yard is a nice size and has a in ground pool with a new liner. Our first though was, liability and we should fill it in. We got some quotes to fill it in and lets just say I will be looking for free fill and i will rent a skid steer..

Wanted to know if anyone has rentals with pools and what you did with them.. keep them or fill them in? can we charge more for rent :).. Looking for some input with regards to this from people who have experience.

Thanks

Nick

Nick V. · Answer

Just to provide an update. We filled it in, was a pain to do but its gone now! the pool was actually in poor shape, only thing good was the liner. Everything else was not good. I had someone remove it all for free and I got close to 100 yards of clean fill and filled it in. Dont think this would effect property value for where this house is, the back yard has a lot of room now and I think this is more attractive to the majority of people both buying and renting.

Nick V. · Answer

Good idea, though we converted property into a duplex so wonder if taxes would go up vs down lol

Deanna McCormick · Answer

Glad to hear you filled it in.. the renters would probably never have cared for it the way it should have been taken care of and the cost of pools is expensive, chlorine, and elect for heater, and water .

Make sure you notify your city tax assessor so they remove the pool from your property tax statement.. we did the same and the property taxes were adjusted..

Steve S. · Answer

I would keep it... for resale a pool usually adds about $20k - 30K in value. If you fill it in it's like lighting a match on $20,000 ... liability? Isn't that what insurance is for? Appropriate insurance on the property with an umbrella policy should do the trick.

But hey ... that's my opinion, I don't know everything... just most things.

Robert Melcher · Answer

I do, but its a SFH. Rent is adjusted upward to include pool care (an additional $175 a month), to keep the tenant from messing things up.