Managing a rent property with a pool?

Hi

I used to rent out a property with a pool to a family. In the rent contract, the tenants are responsible for maintaining the pool, including debris removal, chemical, cleaning, water. There were no problems. The pool was maintained well.

This time, now I am renting out to different tenants and PM suggested that I have a pool monthly maintained by a professional pool man, costing $60/month. According to PM, I should not trust the tenants' maintenance. The pool maintenance may be neglected by the tenants. This means a reduction of my cash flow by $720 pa.

What do you think of the PM's suggestion?

 

Go with the pool company for sure.

You don’t want to stuff around with pool maintenance issues.

Is there a Jim’s pool franchise in town? If so - they are usually reasonably priced.

Cheers

Jamie

 

I agree with your PM: you take responsibility of the pool, and have it done tegularly and professionally. Build some of this this into the rent and wear some yourself. The money you spent will offset any grief you might have later. Tenants always promise they'll look after pools and gardens. But until you have built some track record with them, you can't say you're confident.

 

I would go with you PM.

Not quite the same but the house in Coopers Plains that you know is quite large we found a mower man that would maintain the yard for $80 per cut - so we just had a $20 p/w lawn care package which the tenant took up.

This gave us control and the tenant liked the idea of $20 and not have to worry about the lawns.

 

I recommend having professional go and care for it monthly as they will also pick up minor issues like replacement of O-ring etc before they become major issues like replacing pump or filter etc.

The new tenants may have never had a pool before and not 100% sure on how to care for a pool. All tenants like the idea of a pool but majority of them do not how to care for it.

 

In my experience, its probably easier (though comes at a cost) to pay for a regular maintenance person to upkeep the pool.

We do have a couple of properties where the tenants maintain them themselves. In these cases, recommend doing a ph test as part of the ingoing condition report and ensure this is the same reading you get back after the tenancy. And, writing up detailed instructions on the maintenance/upkeep as an addendum to the lease.

 

I have one in Brisbane with a pool and have it maintained by Swimart. $68 per visit, every 2-3 weeks in Summer and 8-10 weeks in winter. Tenants pay for chemicals. worth every cent imo

 

We would also recommend the professional services. There are many instances of tenants letting a pool go green that could end up costing you more in rectification and tribunal costs.

From an investor's POV, I personally don't buy properties with a pool. It rarely adds much (if any) extra value, detracts from your yield and presents a greater liability issue.

 

I have been here as well and it depends on the tenant.

I have included the 60/month service as a "check safe" but the tenants are still responsible for the pool maintenance and chemicals. They need more than once a month maintenance. It often ended up more than 60 with extra chemicals etc.

More responsible tenant - I just provided the a visit from the pool guys to teach them what to do.

 

This is the best use of a pool in a rental property