How Much Value Does A Pool Add to a home?

Back To Our Home Page

When I made my leap from commercial to residential real estate, I had absolutely no idea how residential appraisers valued homes.  I could do it in my sleep on commercial buildings, but homes are a lot different than buildings.  Every opportunity I had, I met the appraisers at the homes and bombarded them with questions.  I found out very quickly ...

1. All appraisers have their own method of pricing homes and

2. If you ask five of them for an opinion of value (without giving them any expectations) you will get five different prices, all across the board

I guess I naively thought there was some type of standardization for pricing the common features of a home, but there isn't.  Maybe an outbuilding should provide x percentage of value to the property.  Or a deck should add x amount of value.  I had always heard you get 100% of a deck back when you sell your home, but only 50% of a pool.  This was finally my opportunity to get some answers.

I asked the first three appraisers I met (on three different homes)  "How much value do you typically add for a pool?"  You might think I'm exaggerating here, but I'm not.  Here is how all three answered that question ...

• Appraiser number one told me he would give 50% of the value of a new pool of similar quality if it is in good shape.  I can understand that line of reasoning.

• Appraiser number two told me he doesn't give much, if any, added value to a pool.  He said it might help the home sell more quickly, but he doesn't build much in for a pool.  Now I was starting to get confused.

• Appraiser number three told me he normally takes the value of the home on its own (without the pool or land) up to $600,000 and builds 10% of that value in for the pool.  That wasn't a bad way of doing it either, but if that is how he does it, why don't all appraisers do it that way?

Those are three very different approaches which would undoubtably result in three different values for the pool ... and the home.  It  shook my confidence a little because if those guys can't figure out what a pool is worth, how was I ever going to be able to do it?

To this day, I cannot tell you exactly how much value a pool brings to a home.  There is no doubt (in my mind anyway) that a nice, well kept pool is not only going to add value to a home, it is also going to make it easier to sell.  When I price homes with pools, I always hope I can find good comps for similar homes with similar pools.  Then I have an "apples to apples" comparison, but sometimes those comps are just not out there. 

There are very basic, small pools with no spa or water features that might cost $30K to build.  These are at the lower price points for new pools. 

And then, there are $100,000 (or more) pools with wide walking decks, tiered stone beds, multiple water features, spa, and expensive night lighting.  Just as no two homes are alike, it's rare to see two pools that are exactly alike ...  at least on larger estate properties.

In my opinion, pools should be considered more a lifestyle choice than an investment strategy.  You probably won't get out of it what you put into it, but when you do sell your home, it certainly won't hurt you.  Your pool could very well be the thing that entices a buyer to select your home over a similar home without a pool.  Especially here in Texas with our hot summers. 

I've had homes listed without pools and was told by the buyer agents "if it had a pool, my client would have bought it".  But I can't remember a single time I've ever heard a buyer agent tell me "If the home didn't have a pool, my client would have bought it".  Sure, you can add a pool to just about any home, but some buyers just prefer a "plug and play" home they can move in to and start enjoying immediately. 

If I knew for sure I was going to be selling my home within a couple of years, I probably wouldn't add a pool.  But if I knew for sure I was going to get at least three years of enjoyment out of a pool before I sold my home, I wouldn't think twice about adding one.