If you’ve ever looked at your home and thought, “I paid a lot for this. I’m not taking less,” you’re in good company. We talk through that feeling with sellers all the time.
Single-family homes with pools are our niche, and they come with their own pricing questions. Here are a few tips, and a story from north Sarasota.
Quick tips on pricing a pool home
- Start with the appraisal in mind. A lender won’t lend more than the appraised value, so pricing far past it leaves a deal with nowhere to go.
- Compare pool homes to pool homes. Nearby sales with similar pools and outdoor spaces make the best comparisons.
- Watch the first few weeks. Buyer interest is strongest when a home is new, and a miss on price early is hard to undo.
- Read the signals. Lots of online views but no showings point to price. Showings without offers mean we’re close.
- Agree on a plan before you list. Decide when we’ll adjust, so emotion stays out of the moment.
- Count the unknowns. Monthly bills are predictable. What can happen to an empty home is not.
A north Sarasota pool home, and a plan that worked
Not long ago, we, The Pope Team, worked with a homeowner who was no longer living in her north Sarasota home, about five miles from downtown. It sat in a well-kept neighborhood and had a lot going for it: 2,700 square feet, a three-car garage, great curb appeal, and a heated saltwater pool with a waterfall. She had bought in 2022, near the top of the market, and values had come down since. She was sure those features would sell the house quickly.
Those features are attractive, and buyers noticed. But it takes many factors to sell a home, and price is the biggest one.
We told her what we thought the home would appraise for. Her expectation was about 20% higher. So we made a plan together: start at her price, track online views, saves, showings, and feedback, and adjust if the data told us to. She agreed.
The data spoke fast. Plenty of online views, but no showings. We lowered the price to about 10% over the anticipated appraised value, and views climbed. We had around a dozen showings over three weeks, but no offers. Then things went quiet.
We suggested pricing right at the anicipated appraisal value. She trusted the plan and said yes. Soon after, buyers who had loved the home and waited on the sidelines made an offer at the asking price.
The whole process took three months. Keeping the home ready cost her about $420 a month for insurance, lawn care, pool care, electric, water, and internet for the security cameras. Low HOA fees helped keep the total manageable.
The surprise was something no budget anticipates. While the home was on the market, a raccoon damaged several screens on the pool cage and found its way into the attic. That’s the thing about an empty home in Florida. Wildlife, weather, and plain bad luck don’t wait for a closing date, and each month it sits is another month of exposure.
Between the damage and the waiting, the house stood in the way of her next chapter. When the offer came in, the relief was easy to see. She could hand over the keys and stop worrying about the house.
That peace of mind is worth more than holding out for a price you may never see. Pricing at value from day one would likely have spared her much of the waiting and expense, and may well have brought a slightly higher offer, since buyers respond to a fair price on a well-kept home.
She stayed open to the data, and that made all the difference.
Ready to move on to your next chapter? Call or email Christine Pope or Paul Pope. We’ll walk you through the numbers and be honest about what we see.
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