Renting out a house with a pool can be a great way to bring in passive income while providing quality housing for families who are looking for a home that gives them a better experience than basic amenities can offer. Before you do, however, you need to know your landlord’s responsibilities for pool properties. You’ll need to make sure you’ve taken the steps to not only protect your renters but also mitigate your own liability to keep your financial investment safer. As your local pool safety professionals, we have the information you need to make a more informed decision about your property’s future.
Renting the American Dream
For many renters–especially parents–owning a home with a pool is the ultimate goal, but unfortunately, it’s not always a goal that’s in reach. Renting a house with a pool, however, lets them enjoy the lifestyle while they find their own path toward eventual home ownership. This makes rentals with pools popular properties, showing consistently high demand that translates into increased rental prices for the owners. The result is happier renters who don’t feel they need to move properties to upgrade their lifestyle and property owners that enjoy having their properties filled with stable, motivated families month after month.
Premium Rental Properties
Creating a sought-after rental property doesn’t come cheap. Along with the cost of the property itself, you need to consider the safety of your pool, the increased insurance coverage you’ll likely need, the risk of trusting a complex pool system to strangers, and the additional steps you’ll need to take to ensure you’re covered financially and legally as the landlord. Here’s how to make sure you’re ready to start renting a house with a pool and turn a nice profit.
Research Your Increased Liability Needs
Depending on your state laws or homeowners association covenants, you may need increased insurance coverage for your property. Even without a third-party involved, you want to carry additional coverage to protect the home, its elevated amenities, and the renters. When you’re renting a home with a pool, you may be exposed to civil action if an accident happens, a risk that’s heightened by the pool itself. Make sure you understand how your policy covers damage to both the home and the pool, as well as the liability coverage offered for accidents and injuries that occur in and around the home and pool.
Install Pool Safety Barriers
Thousands of lives are lost every year to accidental drownings, and a majority of these incidents cite a lack of adequate safety barriers as a contributing factor. Professionally installed pool safety barriers are designed to prevent unsupervised access to the pool by pets, children, or compromised adults.
They’re not just a good idea, however, as they’re often required under law, by insurance carriers, and HOAs. Installing them helps create a safer pool area when renting a house with a pool and helps reduce the risk of a tragedy happening on your property. Make sure your swimming pool addendum covers the use of and need for these barriers.
- Pool Safety Nets – Swimming pool safety nets are anchored around the edge of the pool and use knotted twine tensioned with steel springs to prevent access to the water. Perfect for pools with unusual shapes, permanently installed fixtures, and surrounding structures, the netting holds potential drowning victims up and out of the water near the edge, where they can be easily pulled back to safety.
- Swimming Pool Safety Covers – Like safety nets, safety covers prevent access to the pool’s surface. These strong, UV and tear-resistant covers are anchored securely to create a taut barrier that’s strong enough to support the weight of a full-grown adult while also keeping dirt, debris, and leaves out of your water.
- Removable Mesh Pool Fencing – This modern pool fencing deters climbing, has minimal gaps and handholds, and is secured with a self-closing and self-latching gate. Made from rip-resistant mesh material and strong poles anchored in the ground around the pool, the whole installation can be taken down in minutes and moved aside for more room when entertaining guests before being reinstalled to provide full protection.
Determine Your Pool Service Needs
Swimming pools require regular cleaning, upkeep, and maintenance, which makes ensuring its care part of renting a house with a pool. Many renters may not understand the work involved in keeping a pool safe and healthy, and even if they do, they may not recognize signs of a serious issue if they see one. That’s why most landlords choose to include pool servicing as a provided service in their lease contract. That way, you know your pool is being properly taken care of and that a professional is visiting regularly who can spot an issue before you become a problem.
Draw Up a Lease Pool Addendum
A swimming pool addendum clearly lays out the renter and landlord pool responsibilities and expectations. This should cover upkeep standards, safety requirements, and that the pool is used at the risk of the renters and their guests, and all use is to be in accordance with both the law and manufacturer’s guidelines. This helps keep you legally covered while making sure they are taking care of the property you’re trusting them with. It’s also a good idea to provide a reference booklet that breaks down their responsibility and acceptable use standards in clear, easy-to-understand language, along with a quick reference for emergency numbers in case of an injury, pool damage, or maintenance difficulty.
Price Your Property Properly
Make sure you understand the increased costs of your insurance, pool servicing contracts, and maintenance charges. Then research comparable properties. You want to make sure your rental prices both respect your property’s value and cover your added costs of renting a house with a pool.
Schedule Your Pool Safety Quote
Your local pool safety experts are right down the street, living and working in your Northern California and Nevada communities. They’ll visit your property to take measurements, discuss your pool safety needs, and create a written estimate tailored to keeping your renters safe and fulfilling your landlord’s pool responsibilities. Before renting a house with a pool, get your no-cost, no-obligation estimate from Lifeguard on Duty today.
