If you’re a Perth landlord, or considering becoming a Perth landlord, and you think that adding a property with a swimming pool to your portfolio is a good idea. Think again. We had the owner of a rental property call us up last week to deal with a very messy problem that he had. The pool in his backyard had not been cared for properly by his tenants and as a result had ended up in really, really bad condition. 
He then spent over $4,000 on new pumps and filters but neglected to replace the pipes. As the pipes were old and the pump was too powerful for them the problem was further compounded when they ruptured. The money he had spent replacing equipment was actually more than the cost would have been remove the swimming pool entirely. We also had a chat with the tenants while we were on site. They said that they didn’t even want the pool, had no use for it nor interest in using it. They were, however, upset by the stagnating water, the mosquitoes that were breeding in it and the fact that their children didn’t have a backyard to play in. We’ve been removing pools in Perth for a very, very long time and this is not the first rental property we’ve been called to help with. It is always the same story. A frustrated landlord, a pool that has not been maintained by a string of careless tenants and tenants who just have no interest in maintaining the pool at all. Unless you are talking about a multi million dollar luxury rental property which you pay to keep maintained then there is absolutely no upside for a landlord when it comes to having a swimming pool in their rental property. Here are some of the downsides though:
- You’ll lose tenants - many won’t even look at properties with pools due to the maintenance and electricity expenses.
- Unless you keep your pool in top notch condition then you will reduce the return on your investment through lower rents.
- Even if your pool is in good condition, you have no guarantee that tenants will take proper care of it and a security deposit would very likely not be enough to cover repairs.
- A poorly maintained pool is a health hazard, especially if it has leftover water in it which has been allowed to go stagnant.
So if you’re considering adding a property to your portfolio which has a swimming pool, or you’ve already got one and it’s not getting looked after we’d recommend you get it dealt with. You’re devaluing the property, reducing the income you receive from it and potentially increasing the chance of it sitting vacant. We removed pools for Perth landlords at least 3 times a month and in most cases we can be in and out in less than a day with minimal disruption. Give Jo a call on 08 6461 6464 or click here to get a quote today. [gravityform id=“3” title=“false” description=“false”]