Pool or no Pool ?

Hello to all,

Hope everyone is having an awesome day.

I wanted to sound board this off the group, especially if anyone has had the same experience as this?

Situation: My phone rang at 5pm today, and it was my NC property manager, who has one of my 3/2 houses they rent for me.

Tennants asked if they could put up a (Walmart) 18’ round and 4’ft deep pool in the back yard?

What to do? ???

I know it will KILL the grass in a alien looking circle for sure.

I was wondering what happens if someone gets hurt in the pool or worse drowns?

The house is on .4 acres, on a concrete slab.

What if the pool breaks and the water goes?

They want an answer, but I don’t know if my insurance will cover it?

What if they move out in Jan 06, and leave the pool? Then I have to have it removed, and re- seeding in the spring.

They have 3 kids, ( a set of 5 yr old twins) so I don’t want to be the Bad guy and say NO, since its HOT in NC.

At the same time I do not want to leave myself open.

Does anyone have any concrete feedback or experience about this one?

Your feedback is welcome! :slight_smile:

Hi Wallace, I was on the other side of your story when I was renting a house. My landlord said it would be fine if we put up the 18’ by 4 ’ pool in our back yard, BUT we also signed an agreement that would not make him liable for any problems that could arise from it. He also asked us to put up some sort of fence, so we put up a 5’ fence made of wire fencing and fence-stakes. As far as the spot on the grass we just raked up the dead grass and threw down some grass seed and the grass came back as good if not better than new. Hope it helped Jim :wink:

If it was me, I would say no. Just because the way the “sue happy” crowd is today. If they built the thing and their kid drowns and they try to sue you. It just isn’t worth it in my opinion.

I read a case that happend in Texas. A lady sued a furniture store because she tripped over a kid that was running around. She injured her self and won a 6 figure settlement. The kicker was, she tripped over her OWN KID!

Wallace,
I had a similar situation recently, but the kids were a little older. My insurance agent told me to get LOTS more
liability if I allowed it. I did not aloow it.
Aren’t 5-year-old kids about 4’ tall, or a little less ?
Maybe a wading pool would satisfy the little ones.
Good luck,
Ray

Wallace,

If you do decide to let them, on top of the insurance and liability issues, be SURE that you understand all of the laws and ordinances concerning pools. In some states, there are VERY strict regulations about security, fences, etc. If they put up and a pool and the fence doesn’t meet code (or there is no fence), guess who’s liable…

Keith

other than being a nice guy, what’s the point??? You are taking all the risk and cost with no upside.

I think I would encourage them to join some local pool club. Maybe say you pay the joining fee or 1st month (if its like $50) to make the topic die in a peaceful manner.

I’m with the majority here – NO on the pool – you don’t need the liability. I won’t even purchase a house that has an in-ground pool. Of course, they usually look like a swamp :slight_smile: If there is an above-ground pool I have it hauled off before I rent the property.

The joy of having a property manager is, who cares if you are the bad guy? Your tenant doesn’t have any contact with you :slight_smile:

I run all my properties as if I’m the property manager. They have no idea I’m the owner. This way when they ask if they can put in a pool, I can say, “No, sorry the owner doesn’t allow pools.” That mean property manager ;D

Good luck to you!
Tami

As far as being a “nice guy”, here’s my take:

I’m the owner/landlord. I am NOT running for mayor or to win any other popularity contest – I’m already the ‘master of my domain’ (to quote from “Seinfeld”)…I use this at work, too (I’m in the Fedral sector but in a service-providing role). I am firm but fair, no “special favors”…(if I’m lucky, I won’t have to kill the Chief of Staff’s secretary who believes that she is above ALL rules and laws, including the laws of nature and science - LOL)…

Have rules, stick to them. Have the rules for a reason (like expense or GIANT LIABILITY). Don’t bend or break the rules ‘just this one time’…if you have rules and the tenants know them AND they know that you will enforce them, it is a lot easier. If you bend this rule, maybe you’ll bend the rules about paying a certain amount of rent on a certain day of the month…

Don’t take this to mean that I am not responsive to my tenants or not good to them. They pay a fair rent and get a nice place. I do not defer maintenance. I am good to them at the Holidays, etc., etc.

Again, my two cents…

Keith

The house I am renting out has a jacuzzi and it is a pain in the ass to maintain. When any part of the jacuzzi breaks, it is expensive to fix. I can only imagine a pool is much worse.

I had a pool at my private residence in Phoenix…the poll had a DE filter. We had a windstorm while I was out of town and a bunch of shingle material got thru the strainer baskets and sucked into the filter. They ripped the fins that the sand sticks to…there were 5 to replace at about $70 per…