You’ve been trying to sell your home for a while with no luck. It may be because you’re asking too much for it or because it’s not in a good neighborhood. A lot of times it because families who are looking at it can’t place themselves in it.
You can fix this issue with a little bit of home staging. If you’re trying to get summer buyers you need to put a special emphasis on your swimming pool area. Pools mean family fun and if you set it up the right way buyers will eat it up.
To help you get it ready for its big photo op, here is everything you need to know about staging your swimming pool.
1. Poolside Landscaping
Every good picture needs a backdrop of some kind. In the case of your pool, a bright green lawn will do the trick. Plant grass seeds way ahead of time to ensure that it will look nice and healthy in your pictures.
If you don’t give yourself enough time to plant the grass, you can place some potted plants near the area to get the same effect to a smaller degree. If you have a small garden built near your pool, you can use it for staging by planting colorful summer flowers.
2. Clean the Pool
You want your grass to be green, not the pool. Run your filter the night before you take the pictures to get rid of any bugs and leaves floating around on the surface. If you notice any stains then you’ll need to take measures to get rid of those too.
for example, if you have a plaster pool you can return it to its original color with a nice acid wash. Tile pools you can get with a little elbow grease and a thin tool such as a screwdriver.
Remove Family Belongings and Toys
Potential buyers want to be able to see themselves and their family in the pool. Not yours. It will be hard to associate themselves with the pool if they’re seeing all of your personal items.
These items will make the space look more cluttered than homey so you’ll be better off placing bowls of fruit on the poolside tables.
Clean the Deck
The pool isn’t the only thing that needs to be crystal clear. It’s important to take care of the deck it’s surrounded by as well. You can easily clear it off with a pressure washer.
Clean the Equipment
When you’re cleaning the pool, it’s important that you get the equipment that’s making it run as well. You can clean most of these pieces such as the filters and the pipes with an abrasive chlorine cleaner.
3. Using Furniture
A pool without patio furniture is sort of sad and lonely. Placing furniture in the shot will make the potential buyer feel like it’s a nice place to relax after a long week. When you get to the stage of the process when interested people are coming in to look at the house, it will invite them to sort of stay chill for a while.
Add in a few loungers, recliners, and depending on how large your pool area is dining furniture. It’s important to note when you’re furnishing the area not to go overboard or the space will look cluttered.
This is especially true if you have a small pool area. If you don’t have much room to work with, pick up furniture that can double as more than one thing. For example, seating that you can also use as dining furniture.
4. Add a Nice Shaded Area
As you’re aware, the summertime is hot. If you don’t have any shade around your pool then people are going be a little hesitant to buy. You could buy/build a pergola or if you don’t have a lot of money to throw around a few umbrellas.
If you go the umbrella route, place them around the edge of the pool near the lounging chairs. This will up the illusion of comfort.
5. Tune-Up Equipment
We don’t mean that you need to spend money to replace every piece of equipment in the pool. You should at least replace anything that is cracked or missing any parts though.
When you find out more about what potential buyers look for in a pool, you’ll see that one thing that they worry about the most is maintenance. Maintenance for pools is expensive and if you make yours look like it’s been well-taken care by replacing some of the smaller parts you’ll give them a little peace of mind.
6. Pool Dye
A lot of people use pool dye for parties but it’s good for staging purposes as well. Pour in some of the dye and it will give the water a deep blue look that you’ve only seen in movies.
A whole bottle will last for a few hours so use it well. If you overuse it then you’ll stain your pool.
7. Safety
Other than maintenance the other big thing that potential buyers are going to worry about when it comes to pools is safety. One of the easiest ways to put their mind at ease is installing a fence.
If you can’t afford to install a fence then you should at least put a non-slip edge around your pool.
Staging Your Swimming Pool to Reel in Summer Buyers
If you’re having problems selling your home then you may not be highlighting the right areas. If you’re trying to get rid of your home in the summer than you may benefit by using some of these tips for staging your swimming pool. Reel in those summer buyers.
Are you ready to become an expert at staging so you can sell your home? Check out our home staging training courses!
