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Does a Swimming Pool Increase or Decrease the Value of a Home?

Thursday June 16, 2016

Home Improvements & Renovations

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When the weather is truly sweltering, and the heat won’t let up, many people fantasize about the possibility of having a cool, crisp pool in their backyard. A pool can be a great source of fun, offers you a new way to exercise, can attract and impress house guests, and helps you fend off those sweat-inducing summer days better than a popsicle or lemonade ever could. Only one question remains: Will this be a worthwhile investment for my property in the long run? Unfortunately, the answer here will be different for everyone. The following factors can help you decide whether installing a pool will benefit your property or inhibit its price and selling potential. If you have a crack in your pool you can have pool resurfacing done to make it look new.

parents and kids jumping into pool

The Buyer

Since demand for a house is often dictated based on personal tastes, the value of a pool is decided by your prospective buyers more than anything. Some view a pool as a huge asset while others consider pools a nuisance and a blemish upon an otherwise sprawling backyard. Depending on demand, your pool could please buyers and warrant a price increase or it could repel them away from your home altogether.

Leftover Space

If your backyard still has space after a pool installation, this bodes well for your property. A backyard that gets completely consumed by a pool will be a different story though. Most buyers will want some kind of space that they can utilize, whether that means they want extra patio space, are interested doing some backyard gardening, or they would like room for a shed in the back. There are all kinds of possibilities that this extra space can provide and having some left will make your property appear more versatile.

Local Climate

You also want to consider how long your pool will be a viable asset throughout the year. Your area’s climate may mean that you can only get four or five months of use out of your pool before the weather cools down. A pool in an area further south that can be used year-round has greater appeal to buyers and will likely have a more positive effect on your property value.

Quality of the Pool

A pool that stands out like a sore thumb in your backyard, or even your neighbourhood as a whole, can be detrimental to your property’s value; however, if the pool blends well with your property and looks stunning, the opposite could be said. Keep in mind that pool maintenance plays a large role in overall quality as well, you don’t want to be asking yourself how long do pool liners last? Nobody wants to see or swim in an algae-ridden pool. A pool like this is more likely to breed ecosystems and become green than it is to make your guests green with envy.

Have a better grasp of where your property stands with regard to the addition of a pool? Would it be a tacky liability or a luxuriant asset? Remember that the right pool addition could boost your property value by over 10% but it could also just as easily drive buyers away. Your pool could be a huge selling factor, or it could be a deal-breaker depending on the market you are selling to!

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