I'm dedicating this post to swimming pools. That's right...swimming pools. We have swimming pools everywhere in Florida. Here is a picture of our pool.
This is what they are supposed to look like, sparkling, refreshing and very inviting. It makes you want to jump in doesn't it?
Now contrast our swimming pool with these.
This is what pools look like when the property is a REO (bank owned) or a short sale. Not all the time but certainly most of the time.
Needless to say these can be a HUGE problem. There are probably 1,000s of pools, that look like these, throughout Florida. The first thing that comes to mind is "Mosquito Hell"!!! Not to mention snakes and a myriad of other creatures that we have not been able to identify. Here's an article from The Orlando Sentinel about this issue.
Another problem we have is the theft of pool equipment and heaters. I met Andrew Cox of Cox Inspections and a fellow ActiveRain member at one of my pending REO properties this morning. Andy beat me there but called minutes after his arrival to ask me where the pool pump, filter and heater were. Beats me. I swear they were there 5 weeks ago when my buyer and I negotiated the deal. Good thing we have the right to inspect and CANCEL!!!
So folks, foreclosures are affecting the market in many ways. Can you imagine living next to one of these pools?
Oh well....that's all I got for you today. I'm going swimming!!! Want to join me?
Reserved Parking For "The Lovely Wife"...TLW...ROAR!
Blog Boy...
I have a good question for you. When these houses go on the market why do they not drain the pool? Leaving the water in the pool to stagnate doesn't make sense to me.
P.S. I had a great comment but decided to turn it into a post in the near future. Wouldn't want to blow my wad in a comment stream :)
TLW...ROAR!
Looks more like an aquarium tank than a swimming pool... wish there was some way to better deal with these kinds of theft issues. Any ideas???
Banks make lousy homeowners----should be avoided at all costs:)
BB, I have seen these same pools which is why I discourage buyers from going down this REO path but they drag me into these houses anyway. The pool equipment theft even makes it worse.
BB, It seems like these pools are just getting worse. I was in one the other day, the buyers didn't make it past the foyer because of the stench. Wish I had taken a photo, the pool had a 2x4 frame/structure across the whole thing with chicken wire over the top. Wouldn't want to be living next to that one!
TLW has the right idea. Drain the dang thing. I suppose they should be drained into a truck and not into the canal or lake or on the ground. The chemicals aren't very fish friendly. Seems to me that would be an ordinance. These things are a health hazard and an attractive nuisance.
BB - I have always found it interesting how so many pools in Florida area screened in - you rarely see that here in California, at least in my experience. Yep, we have some pretty scary pools, too. You wouldn't even want to send a diver in with a full suit of hazmat equipment on. I heard of one property where the owner (allegedaly) dumped concrete into the filter system. And we have had some serious concerns about the Nile virus as well. I suspect there has been some theft of pool equipment too. Not a pleasant scene.
Jeff
Well I wouldn't expect your pool to look any other way with that little TLW in charge. But those other pools... ICCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!
BB, I have seen several "sad" pools around the Twin Cities, too. It's a nightmare for the buyer!
TLW, I will chime in here. Some pools will collapse if the are not kept full of water. Others will pop out of the ground under hydrostatic pressure---much like the coffins did in the movie "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou." Draining pools can be touchy.
Fran...
Even my pool area is somewhat anal :)
Charles...
Thank you. Thank you. I knew there must a reason why the pools are not drained. Geesh...I was beginning to think that stupidity rules :)
TLW...ROAR!
Those moss and mildewy ones look like we could get some disease from...maybe mono or something. Yours sure looks clean and ready to dive in!
Oh...
BTW Blog Boy...We do live next door to one of those pools. It hasn't been cleaned or treated in 4 weeks. Not to mention the stupid mosquito cement pond they put up and abandoned.
TLW...ROAR!
Blog Boy...
Seeing as how we temporarily don't have any neighbors who can see us out at our pool, wanna go for a late night swim with me? :)
No. You can't bring your laptop into the pool :)
TLW...ROAR!
LOL...good thing they didn't take the house too!
I'm expecting the creature from the black lagoon to emerge sometime soon!
Bryant amazing how different parts of the country are effected by vacant proporties. Up here in Connecticut we have a number of pools, but nothing like you guys, so this is something that we do not really give much thought to, but I can see where it would be a major concern down there.
Bryant- Hmmm, our short sales are in tip top shape. We make sure the sellers have their homes in mint showing condition. The sellers we have had take much pride in their homes even when they can not pay their payments. Even our REOs in Wellington are in wonderful shape. The media wanted me to show them trashed REOs in Wellington and we could not even find one!
Broker Bryant, I hope the invite is to swim in your pool, and not in one of those murky messes. So where are the frogs? We have a lot of frogs in the swampy pools up here. I think they may eat misquitos. If not, we have bats that do the work.
BB - did you come across any alligators yet? Yikes, shame on the banks (owners) for not taking care of them.
BB - Yuck! I bet when homes start turning over, it will pays to be a pool boy in Florida!
Mosquito Hell ... more like Mosquito Heaven! We have the same problem down here in SW Florida. The pool is the first thing to be let go.
I hate going to these REO houses where everything is a mess. Most often the same people that want to buy them can't get a loan for one.
Broker Bryant, Seen a few of these pools. I have also seen pools covered by plywood or something of that sort which was almost impossible to move.
BB,
I had to drop by and see what you had written about this one! I did see one of the REO properties with a drained pool. There was a huge crack right down the middle of the pool floor. I can't be sure which happened first - the crack or draining... hmmmm.
Anyway, it was great seeing you.
We don't have as many pools here. a year or so ago I sold one in the winter and the seller just left with no heat and did not winterize the pool. What a frozen mess. Good luck your pool looks very inviting.
BB, it's so amazing to follow your journey through such a state of disaster- and you're still selling houses! Good for you.
BB, these pools are definitely a problem for everybody, including the neighbors. I don't know if one of these abandoned pools is the culprit, but we are having a mosquito invasion. By the way, very nice pool!
Having similar problems here with the pools and mosquitos! It's not a pretty picture, all the way around!!!
Those pools are definitely a problem in more ways than one! West Nile is scary stuff too, so make sure you wear your repellant.
HELLO B.B.!
Your pool does look oh-so-inviting! Pretty large too. The other pools, well, the look very neglected. Good job on this post & eductating about pools!
Have a great weekend!
Bryant,
Thanks for the post. Here in the northeast REOs are vandalized for the hope of finding copper tubing. Interior walls and ceilings are ripped apart by burglars looking to acquire the metal that can be sold at the scrap yard.
Fortunately, I see from a condominium development I have, that the water lines are now of a malleable substance akin to PVC. Once the word gets around that the industry has moved forward, we should have fewer vandalized REOs, the next go round.
In the meantime, I'll get a weekend special flight to Orlando and take you up on the pool offer!
Hey BB,
It's me again. Struggling to find the reasoning behind this post, the picture that it paints, and the misunderstanding of the commentary.
One of the commenters above wrote "It's a nightmare for the buyer!:...obviously many realtors aren't getting it even now. You're catering to the wrong buyer!
I recently wrote an article as to what to look for in an REO property and a green hazardous pool was one of the top points of interest. The greener the pool, the greener the dollars. When these pools turn into hazards they become liabilities. When items are stolen regarding the pool as you wrote, that further goes to motivate the bank to get rid of the property at the price you are looking to get it for.
When I send in an REO offer it includes video, copies of any and all citations or violations, pictures of green pools and missing equipment....anything that I can show to substantiate the price being reduced. Guess what..it works!
We routinely buy property at prices often 50% or more what the perceived current market value is. List price is ignored when making the offer. It's not a "low ball" when it can be validated and supported.
Not at all attacking here but offering 2 cents to say, Hey..guys..these are the building blocks of great opportunities. Again like yesterday...it's a matter of perspective!
By the way, sometimes I take my wife on property previews. I have a saying...when she walks in and says. ewwwww!!! I know that smells dollars.
My advice is that real estate agents that want to truly profit in this market and the market for the forseeable future, need to jump into this green water. C'mon in..the water's fine...smells like...money!
Celebrate these sh^&tholes, they are opportunities!
In CA we had this problem more than we do here in the Lake Norman area because most people either have community pools or the lake rather than beautiful pools like yours. But, having a green pool is very dangerous because you can't see if a child or anyone for that matter has fallen in so perhaps the health department could step in and require these pools to be cleaned or emptied. Yuk!
BB - Interestingly enough Barry brought up a very good point and I'm sure he does very well when he makes an offer because of his experience with REOs. However, for the average Joe Buyer, all he sees is the low dollar price of the house and not knowing and realizing how much he would still have to pay out off pocket and to make it livable - Buyer beware!
Bryant - Your pool looks great, the others seem to be a little bit like a cement pond.
Hi BB - I think I see a few lilly pads forming in one of those pools. Up here is MASS there have been quite a few REO properties that have been stripped of the plumbing pipe of all things. Apparently copper is pretty valuable these days.
Netra said "average Joe Buyer"..that's it...if you're trying to show these homes to the "average buyer" you are most likely wasting your time
"Splish, Splash, I was taking a bath" I just didn't know that it was on my house and not in my pool!
Bob Mitchell
ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.
One more reason for the banks to be more cooperative when it comes to negotiating short sales:
"Be more resonable - don't loose even more value than you already do!"
Holy crap!! I leave for a day and get slammed with comments. Thanks!!
Katerina, Your market and my market are like night and day. Owners in Poinciana are just walking away. Most of these homes were investor owned or either the sellers have already moved. They can't afford to maintain their properties and keep up with their new rental. Some own other houses. These pools are a real problem.
Barry, I actually have all 3 of these houses under contract. The first 2 are short sales and had multiple offers on them once we got the price low enough. Both are being purchased by end users. One is going FHA and the other VA. So the pools will have to be cleaned prior to appraisal. I have the seller side on one and both sides on the other. The 3rd home is a vacation home near Disney and I have the buyer side for a guy in England. The lowest sale in the community has been $179,000 we have this house(REO) under contract at $141,000 cash. It's a 5/3 just a few miles from Disney. Unfortunately when we placed it under contract the pool equipment was there. We will be negotiaing a further discount from the lender next week to cover the costs of replacemet.
There are certainly many investor buyers like yourself but there are far more "average Joe" buyers out there. Should we not help them? Shouldn't they also have the opportunity to get a deal on a house?
Also, remember that you are always commenting from the perspective of an investor buyer I am writing from the perspective of a listing broker. These perspectives are from opposite sides of the equation.
OK everyone, Pool party at my house!!!! TLW is cooking!!
Cool - I've got my floaties on, and the SPF300 (I dont want to burn!)
I've seen other properties in the area that are selling at bargain-basement prices - Kissimmee, Clermont, St. Cloud, but nothing with the frequency and consistency of Poinciana.
In 2000, I was renting a 3/2 house in Poinciana, and the owner offered to sell to me at $55K. That house (built in 1988) last sold in 2003 for $149K. That's an increase in value (?) of $94,000 in just 3 years!! It's not for sale now, but if it was, I'm sure it would not be valued that high.
What is that around your simming pool? That's a screen. And why do we have screens? Because there are bugs that bite. Come to think of it, we don't have any of those up here. No humidity to speak of either. Am thinking of not moving anytime real soon.
You were missed t his last week, as am sure you know.
"There are certainly many investor buyers like yourself but there are far more "average Joe" buyers out there. Should we not help them?"
Well of course BB. As you are finding, when there are problems, they have to be attended to before a bank will fund. Often times deals fall apart as no one wants to ante up. I was just thinking about agents including both pools of prospective buyers.
Congrats on the contracts!!
You forgot the pool with the wood frame and chiken wire over it. The banks have been doing a lot of that for liability reasons. How do you inspect that?
Bryant, hope your swim was a good refreshing one. That is sad when they walk off with the equipment and let the up keep get away from them. Still feel it would be advantageous for the banks to hire handy men to take care of these homes which will net them a better return on the selling price.
You can hardly think of dealing with getting the water back in shape, the equipment even if it is there has been baking without being used. Of course the theft of the equipment just adds insult to injury and lowers the value. I am sure you are right...they look like this all over Florida and it doesn't take long either. Nice post Bryant.
Hey what is a swimming pool? I've heard of them but with only 13 days that get about 90 degrees here a year, I'm not sure what they are used for? Is that some kind of hydroponics place for growing your own fruits and vegetables inside without soil? We have a few of those here, but they are used for growing grass, hippie weed, cannabis, chronic or whatever you want to call it.
Sure... I'll go for a swim. Pool number one of course... the other three look too adventurous.
I have seen these pools - several just last week. One agent told me the pool was cler the previous week - sure, it was! Yep, you never know what is underneath the murky mess.
I'll join you as long as you're swimming in your own pool. Yuck to the other ones! (Starting to see some of those around here now that the snow/ice is off of them. Mosquito infestastions also along with them...)
I dont know about florida but in south africa (thats where BB's automatic pool cleaner was invented) we would just dump in some copper sulphate......it kills mossies and green stuff and turns the water blue. A pool drained and not made out of gunnite will crack as the water pressing OUT compensates for the surroundings pressing IN
The copper sulphate is for an absent neighbours pool to clear them up for you a large dose of calcium hypercloride (thats the water purification tablets they give you in the US army/marines) or even FRESH chlorox (chlorine bleach) - it goes stale for pool use after about 6 weeks - will work cheaply - (but NOT as cheaply as copper sulphate) the problem with copper sulphate is it can precipitate out onto a gunnite or concrete lining causing black stains but NOT on a fibreglass, painted, ceramic or plastic lining.
Andrewa, Now that's interesting. I had never heard of using copper sulphate before. I also didn't know the "baracuda" was invented in S Africa. I guess it's truw we learn something every day.
BB
Due to our high heat and humity surprisingly, it does take long for a pool to turn into a dark dank nasty uninviting mosquito breeding ground. Sometimes it is only a matter of a week or two before the progression begins.
The missing pool equipment, is becoming a larger problem not only here, but everywhere.
Symptomatic of desperate actions, of desperate people doing extrodinary things in desperate times.
ONLY in your pool not the others, and believe me, I am not far from you and I have seen quite a few pools like the ones you pictured! YUK!
Want to join me?
Only if it's in YOUR pool! :)
We have a big problem with copper being stolen from anything and everything.
Furnaces, copper plumbing, air conditioning condensors, refrigerators, is just the short list of what I've seen stolen from houses this summer. Even heard a story about all the windows getting stolen out of a house.
When ever I do a REO inspection. Usually right after the locks have been changed. I take pictures and record the serial numbers of the all the heat pumps, a/c units and and anything else on the exterior that someone would like to get their hands on. My clients seem to like it. We have a lot of metal theft out here and this way there is a written docoument if anything is recovred from a theft.
Shawn