Before you list your home for sale prepare your pool to sell the house.
Many home buyers shy away from properties with a swimming pool because they believe a pool is expensive to operate and comes with a high maintenance workload.
However, the trick to generating strong buyer interest and selling your home for the maximum selling price is to present your swimming pool as a highly desirable lifestyle feature and the focal point for entertaining family and friends.
Let’s run through the things you can do to prepare your pool to sell the house.
Table of Contents
Get a Pool Safety Certificate
The first thing you need to do to prepare your pool to sell the house is get a pool safety certificate.
Many authorities around the world require pool owners to fully fence their outdoor swimming pools for safety reasons. It is law to require a pool safety certificate when buying, selling or leasing a property with a swimming pool. The burden to obtain the pool safety certificate falls on the property owner. Usually the land titles office will not complete a title transfer for the sale of a property without a pool safety certificate.
The process to obtaining a safety certificate is to contact the local authority for a pool safety compliance inspector to visit your home and check your pool and backyard is in compliance with the regulations. When you have met the compliance regulations a pool safety certificate is issued.
Read our article on How to Pass a Pool Safety Inspection
Upgrade Your Pool Fence
When your pool fence is old, needs maintenance or non-compliant with the latest pool safety compliance regulations upgrade to a new pool fence.
I recommend installing frameless or semi-frameless glass pool fencing. These fences are modern, low maintenance and provide unobstructed views of the pool area. They look great and raise the profile of your pool area to a higher standard of presentation.
Here are some benefits of glass pool fencing:
- Ultimate safety – young children cannot climb a pane of glass as there are no footholds or handholds.
- Restricted access – it’s much more difficult for small animals such as cats, dogs, frogs, toads, rats, mice and lizards to enter the pool area.
- Legal compliance – this type of pool fence complies with all safety standards,
- Non-corrosive – glass is long lasting and not affected by pool chemicals.
- Weather resistant – glass fences are strong and not impacted by sun, rain or wind.
- Low maintenance – periodically clean the glass with glass cleaner.
- Tough & Durable – tempered safety glass made to international standards.
- Increased value – these attractive & modern fences are long lasting and add value to any property.
- Protect the pool area – glass fences block dirt & debris from entering the pool water reducing the filtering requirement for a pool.
- Unobstructed views – the clean, transparent lines of a glass pool fence complement your landscape design and provide clear views of your garden and pool.
Please read our article on Swimming Pool Fences.
Home Staging the Pool Area
When a house is empty of furniture and fittings it appears cold and uninviting. Home buyers have to use their imagination to envisage what the rooms will look like with furniture and fittings.
Sometimes an empty property can work to the seller’s advantage because small rooms may look larger without furniture. When the seller’s furniture is old or unattractive it’s better to remove it as it can turn away buyers. Some buyers are easily distracted by the home owner’s contents when they should be concentrating on the home’s core features.
However, in most cases staging a house for sale with beautiful furniture and fittings raises the home’s profile and makes it much more attractive to prospective buyers. Home buyers want to enter a house that feels like a home. They want everything nicely presented and to be shown how the rooms can be decorated and furnished.
There are many staging businesses that specialize in transforming an empty house in to a highly desirable and beautiful home.
Why only stage the inside of the home?
The swimming pool and backyard are often overlooked when presenting a home for sale. When listing a property for sale or rent you will need quality photos of the swimming pool area and staging for an open home.
Staging businesses can also transform and present the pool area as a focal point and highly desirable lifestyle feature of your home. These staging businesses are experts at arranging and presenting luxury outdoor furniture, beautiful pot plants, ornaments and other features to make your backyard fabulous.
Read more about How to make your home sell
Hide the Swimming Pool Filter
Let’s face it. Swimming pool filtration equipment is ugly!
No one wants to see the unsightly pool pump motor, filter and plumbing pipes.
I strongly believe it should be not seen and not heard.
But don’t stop there. Store away the pool cleaning accessories.
Potential home buyers want to be shown a beautiful swimming pool, spa, patio and fully landscaped backyard.
Building a swimming pool filter enclosure is a simple way to hide away the filtration equipment, sound proof the pump motor and protect it from the weather. Build a larger enclosure to store the cleaning equipment and pool toys as well.
Read our article on Swimming Pool Filter Enclosures.
Upgrade Your Filtration System
Do you have an old filtration system with a noisy single speed pump motor?
These systems are now out-of-date. Upgrade to a new more powerful, quieter and energy efficient system.
In the United States of America, the US Department of Energy has regulated a new law to require that all new and replacement inground swimming pool filtration pumps, after July 2021, are variable speed pumps.
A variable speed pump looks similar and is installed in exactly the same way to a traditional single speed pump. A variable speed pump is designed to operate at varying rates of power output to match the filtration workload requirement and therefore saves electricity. This new pump technology saves up to 80% electrical power usage with a domestic pool filtration system.
Maintain the Swimming Pool Area
Pressure Wash the Pool Area
One of the most useful tools a homeowner can purchase is a high pressure washer. They only cost around $100 but are very useful for cleaning everything outside. Pressure wash the paving, deck and pool coping to quickly remove all traces of dirt without the use of harsh chemicals. Pressure washing works well on walls, fences, security screens, insect screens, gutters, patios covers, shade cloth and almost anything else.
Renovate Wood Pool Decks
Renovate your pool deck with a fresh coat of paint or stain. Pressure wash the deck to remove all traces of dirt. Sand the deck then apply paint or stain following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Trim the Garden & Mow the Lawns
One of the simplest and quickest ways to maximize the presentation of your backyard and prepare your pool to sell the house is to mow the lawn and trim the garden. Home buyers don’t like untidy gardens as they will think there is too much work to maintain the backyard. You need to make the backyard look as low maintenance as possible to attract to best price for your property. Add mulch or decorative stones around garden beds to lower their maintenance profile.
Polish the Pool Plaster Surface
Remove marks and stains on the plaster pool surface that are obvious and unattractive.
Polish the whole pool surface to make the plaster clean, smooth and white. This is a simple process that works wonders on plaster pools to make them look new again.
You will need to empty the pool to complete this process.
Use an angle grinder with a fibreglass flap disk. Buy a fine grade as we only want to polish and not cut into the plaster. Gently run the grinder over the pool surface to polish up the surface. This process will clean away any marks, stains, pitting, scaring or dullness in the plaster surface. The process is very dusty and takes hours of work but the results are worth it.
Please wear safety clothes, gloves, mask and eye protection. You may want to run a vacuum cleaner while grinding to capture most of the dust.
Add Blue Pool Dye to the Pool
Add some pool party dye to the pool water to give the pool a deeper blue color. This dye will make the pool look more attractive for 2 or 3 days until the pool filter removes it from the water.
Maintain the Pool Equipment
Simple maintenance issues like dripping taps, cracked skimmer lids, faded paint or corroded metal fittings will make prospective home buyers think the property is poorly maintained. Fix or replace these items before listing the property for sale.
Remove the Automatic Pool Cleaner
You can still use an automatic pool cleaner to clean your pool before taking photos or showing buyers your home. However, when conducting an open home make your pool swim-ready by removing the automatic pool cleaner and storing it out of sight. Also store away all other pool equipment and chemicals. If buyers see equipment and chemicals they will be reminded of the maintenance workload that comes with owning a swimming pool.
Get Ready to Sell
You will achieve strong buyer interest and a higher selling price when you prepare your pool to sell the house by presenting your swimming pool and spa as a highly desirable lifestyle feature. When your pool is looking beautiful and your backyard is clean and tidy it will make it easier to sell your home. Buyers will not think about the maintenance workload or cost of running the pool filtration system.
Choosing the right time of year to sell your home will lead to more market interest and a higher selling price. Try to list your home for sale during the spring sales season when the weather is warmer, and your pool looks inviting.
