House Flip w/ a Pool
I'm in the middle of flipping a house right now that has an inground pool. I'm a little over budget and really hoping to sell the house at the high end of the comps and the backyard/pool area is a big selling point for this specific property so I'm trying to figure out what I should do with it.
At the moment the pool is closed (with an elephant cover) and has been since I bought the house. I'm trying to decide if I should bother opening it, seeing if everything is working and then closing it. The thought process is that I should have it closed for liability purposes during any showings, so if I do decide to open it I'll have to close it right after. Here are all the pros and cons (of opening it) that I can think of:
Pros:
-can get good pictures
-will know if it works / exactly what is wrong if it doesn't
-can help speed up closing process / less risk of buyer pulling out
-buyer might not bother with pool inspection
Cons:
-more money & already over budget (likely $500-1k to open/close it, $1-2k for new pump, $3-8k for new liner, etc.)
-if I do find issues I have to disclose them during sale
-might be able to find a buyer that doesn't care about condition of pool and is willing to purchase house anyway
For context I'm not sure of the exact state of the pool - it looks like it is in decent condition and the previous owner claims that they replaced the liner a couple of years ago, but it seems as if it hasn't been opened in at least a year or two and I'm not sure I can take the seller's word for granted. On the one hand I bought the home through a wholesaler bc the actual seller was an older woman who seemed to be losing her wits a little bit. On the other hand the woman is the one who told me it was replaced and she had also claimed to have put a new roof on the house, which I was able to confirm, so she has at least some credibility. I was able to peak into the pool a little bit and from what I can see the liner seems to be in good shape.
I would love to hear people's thoughts on what I should do and if anyone has had any experience with this themselves. Also, is there anything I haven't taken into consideration? Finally if anyone knows a good company that could help me take care of the opening and closing please lmk. The house is north of Boston in Chelmsford.