Pool Homes Are Getting Hard To Come By

About 15% of the homes for sale in Tallahassee have swimming pools, but unless you are prepared to spend the big bucks, you better be using a smart acquisition plan if you want to enjoy a pool in your backyard.

As I write this report, there are only 86 single-family detached homes for sale in Tallahassee that have swimming pools, and a whopping three-quarters of them are already under contract with buyers.

The ones that are truly available have a median price of $650,000, so if you want a pool at a price near half of that, you have to know about these homes BEFORE they hit the market and be ready for a brutal bidding war.

Single-Family Detached Homes For Sale With Swimming Pools

Swimming Pools Add Value

There is no doubt about it, a swimming pool adds value to a home.

The graph above was created from information taken from the Tallahassee Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS). My goal was to find a relatively accurate measurement of how much a pool was worth in an average existing home sale.

To find this, I culled the information, removing new construction homes and homes on premium lots. I then took more than 18 years of this group of home sales and compared the average price of homes with pools to the average price of homes without pools.

Today, we've seen the average price differential for pool homes exceed the same for non-pool homes by about $45,000. So what exactly does this mean? Are pools worth $45K?

Not exactly. This means that the average home, with the average pool, is worth about $45K more than the average home with no pool. This would lead me to believe if you are looking at a home with a pool that is priced below the average pool-home price, then the pool likely has a value lower than $45K.

The opposite is true of course too. If you are looking at a luxury home with a pool, then you should know that the pool adds more than $45K in value.

Statistical Information About Homes For Sale With Pools

How elusive is that home with a pool that you've always wanted?

Here are some stats that I found this morning:

• Homes For Sale With Pools: 86
• Median Price: $459,450
• Homes For Sale With Pools (Not Under Contract): 23
• Median Price: $649,900
• Homes For Sale With Pools (Under Contract): 63
• Median Price: $449,000

The take away from this is that you should know that homes that hit the market priced below $400K are rare and typically must be found during the "coming soon" stage or you will miss them. Right now, only four of the 23 pool homes for sale that are not under contract are priced below $500K.

You have to be ready to act fast, and home sellers aren't going to be interested in a buyer who is only partially qualified to buy the home. Get your ducks in a row and monitor the market hourly! I recommend you monitor the Coming Soon Website often or hire a buyer's agent to do so who will alert you even if it's just a rumor of a pool home being listed or coming back on the market.

When moving to, in, or from Tallahassee, you will fare better if you work with a local expert. We are here to help. If you have further questions on the Tallahassee real estate market, you can leave a comment below, give us a call at (850) 366-8917, or drop us a note and we'll give you the local information needed to ensure a successful, smooth transaction.

As a local born and raised in Tallahassee with a focus on customer service, I promise you'll find great success when working with Joe Manausa Real Estate, just as have our past customers. You can read thousands of their reviews reported on Google, Facebook and Zillow right here: Real Estate Agent Reviews Tallahassee.

Have you heard about my new book "The Business of Getting Business?" It's a comprehensive guide for small businesses to help them make the move to digital. For those of us who want to survive and thrive in a world where large corporations are taking over, it is a must-read. It's also the perfect guide for how to sell a home in the digital age. You can find The Business Of Getting Business by clicking on any of the trusted retailers below.