Thread: Swimming Pools

If the pool shop does not want to come out and have a look change shops, If you are spending too much at the shops change shops.
When we first moved into our house it had a pool, it was my first time to experience pool ownership. The first couple of years I went to a particular pool shop and did not matter how often or little I wen to the shop I spent a min $100.00.
I eventually changed pool shops, and now my pool is in better condition and I spend way less on chemicals etc than before. When I had an algae problem (pump died) the pool shop gave me specific instructions as what to do, and if that did not help he said call and he would come out and investigate. I did not have to call him out.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Pool, a hole in the ground into which you pour money. Been there, done that, never again.

I have been looking at Sunshine Coast hinterland real estate for a while with the plan of relocating there. Land sharks ( so-called real estate persons) seem puzzled when I tell them that a pool automatically knocks $50,000 off my estimate of the property's worth. This is roughly what it will cost to remove the unwanted item and re-landscape the yard.

How funny is that!!!

Land sharks??? WTF. They are there to do a job, answer their phone during all hours and do all the searches and opens whilst we are out enjoying our weekends. Some may not sell a property for weeks, how stressful is that?

For some a 6 car garage may be the same as a pool, or a tennis court?

What if you have kids, a pool is great fun also if you are an active person and like to swim or exercise rather than just type crap on forums!

If you are not looking at a house with a pool, don't even go look at it and waste the agents time, likewise if you have a beautifully paved driveway and own a Landy, whats the point of the nice driveway if the landy drips oil everywhere. Ever had an agent say that to you.

No, because its rude and they have manners.

They are usually very professional and try and get the vendor the best price.

You will notice if/when you sell your place.

How rude.

Now, in regards to maintaining a pool, I get my pool guy to come by every 4 weeks during the swim season and 8 weeks during off season.

I calculated that into my running costs of the pool along with solar pump life, filter cartridge replacement and water etc.

Its all worth it in my experience.

Originally Posted by big guy

How funny is that!!!

Land sharks??? WTF. They are there to do a job, answer their phone during all hours and do all the searches and opens whilst we are out enjoying our weekends. Some may not sell a property for weeks, how stressful is that?

For some a 6 car garage may be the same as a pool, or a tennis court?

What if you have kids, a pool is great fun also if you are an active person and like to swim or exercise rather than just type crap on forums!

If you are not looking at a house with a pool, don't even go look at it and waste the agents time, likewise if you have a beautifully paved driveway and own a Landy, whats the point of the nice driveway if the landy drips oil everywhere. Ever had an agent say that to you.

No, because its rude and they have manners.

They are usually very professional and try and get the vendor the best price.

You will notice if/when you sell your place.

How rude.

If you truly believe agents act for the vendor and try to get the vendor the best price, then you have a lot to learn. Have you heard of the process called vendor conditioning? This involves getting the vendor to accept a much reduced price by various stratagems. It usually starts within a few days of listing. The reason? It is easier and quicker to sell something under value than bust your ass trying to achieve the maximum, or, quelle horreur, what the vendor is asking.

I refuse to pay agents for a "marketing campaign". These advertise the agency rather more than your property. The agency is getting extraordinary commission for doing relatively little and can pay for their advertising out of their share.

I have bought and sold a number of houses and have never been completely happy with the agency. You give them their instructions about not submitting offers under $x and to simply tell the offerer "No, not enough" and not to bother me with low ball offers. What happens? Well, vendor conditioning for a start, submitting low ball offers to attempt to determine your bottom line.

I told one guy that he is paid commission to get someone to buy something they don't want at a higher price than they wanted to pay. If you are selling something at market value or less, then you don't need a sales rep in a $1,000 suit and a Mercedes. You need a cash register and a check out girl. Most real estate sales reps would not make a living in competitive high dollar industrial selling like construction and mining equipment.

As for being shown places with pools, I tell them what sort of place I am looking for, and get shown around anything but. "I thought you would like to see this one. It is a bit like what you are seeking". When I tell them no pool and not more than 3/4 acre of land and am contacted regularly with places that are not at all like my description then I can get a bit caustic.

I realise they can only show me their listings but they should take my instructions on board and save everybody's time.

I do have a lot to learn, I am learning every day bit like all of us.

In real estate however I am pretty good, I am a builder/project manager/engineer for a local small construction company.
I have won several MBA and UDIA awards both for medium density living and and market assessment etc.

We have our own real estate agent in our company and one of the directors is also a agent.
Do you still think I don't know what I am talking about? Do you?
I have build, bought and sold many of my own properties, not blowing much steam but my own portfolio is looking good also.

Find a good company and you will find a good agent, biggest problem is most vendors believe their property is worth more than it actually is and sits dead in the water for ages whilst the agent keeps trying to get the vendors dream price.
Well, times are tough and prices flat lined and it's a buyers market.

If you don't want a pool, its that easy, get a house with no pool.

Real estate.com is your best friend and to get a pool taken out and or filled in plus a bit of average landscaping is nothing near the price you quoted, even cheaper if it's fiberglass as most in Queensland are.

Happy house hunting.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

If you truly believe agents act for the vendor and try to get the vendor the best price, then you have a lot to learn. Have you heard of the process called vendor conditioning? This involves getting the vendor to accept a much reduced price by various stratagems. It usually starts within a few days of listing. The reason? It is easier and quicker to sell something under value than bust your ass trying to achieve the maximum, or, quelle horreur, what the vendor is asking.

After spending the last year looking at properties to buy & selling 2 in 6mths, I can assure you that the above is all completely true.

The swear filter here would have a heart attack if I wrote what I thought of real estate agents.

Pools are great IMHO. I put one in at my last place, first pool I've ever had anything to do with. Initially I was out cleaning it every Sunday and loved it. Over time I only tended to clean it every month and maybe twice over winter and really no problems. We even got so slack we measured ph and all the crap rarely because it was so stable. My pool guy was/is absolutely fantastically wonderful! I had a couple of issues when it wentgreen with algae and I called him and one of his boys dropped over after work and told me the deal to fix it and all fine, done and dusted. It was a composite pool, not quite the cheapest, by no way the most expensive but by far the easiest to maintain from all my research. Composite pools have a concrete surround and structure with a vinyl liner. We had no issues with the liner as others claim to have had, the solar heating was beaut too. We also had the boys start excavation on Monday and we were swimming in the brand new pool by Friday night.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

Originally Posted by big guy

Find a good company and you will find a good agent, biggest problem is most vendors believe their property is worth more than it actually is and sits dead in the water for ages whilst the agent keeps trying to get the vendors dream price.
Well, times are tough and prices flat lined and it's a buyers market.

.

An ethical agent would not accept a listing far above a reasonably achievable selling price. They should say "no, that property can not be sold at your expected price and I can not accept the listing until you reduce your asking price to something achievable".

If the agent accepts the listing at too high a price then to my mind they are duty bound to work hard at achieving that price or near. The norm, unfortunately, seems to be to accept the listing at a high price to keep it out of the hands of other agents whilst they beat down the owner's expectations.