Dee wrote:
snip
Several realtors I've spoken with say an
average-sized pool adds only about $10,000 to the value of the house,
snip
I would be offering less for a house with a
pool, so I would not be "losing money".

If you offer less for a house that has a higher market value, you are
right. You would not be "losing money" because your offer would never be
accepted.

If you don't want a pool, and plan to use that strategy if you find a
house that you like that has a pool, don't waste people's time. You'd be
wasting the seller's time, the seller's agent's time, your agent's time,
and your own time.

"Several realtors"? You don't already have a single agent working for
you? I hope you realize that good buyer's agents won't work with you
until you're ready to be serious, and work exclusively with them. Why
would a good agent waste their time with you if tomorrow you'll be
working with someone else? Answer: A *good* agent wouldn't. They have
better things to do. Things that will be more fruitful. Agents that
would work with you under those conditions have nothing better to do
because they're not very good. If an agent doesn't ask you to work
exclusively with them before you look at a single house, move on, and
find a better agent.

I went off on that tangent because the point is a good agent also will
find out you plan to make unrealistic offers on houses with pools, and
they also won't show you houses with pools. So if you are clear in your
desire not to have a pool, a good agent won't show you houses with
pools, and this whole idea of what to do with the pool you don't want
becomes moot.

(Well, actually it would be moot anyway if you were going to make a
lower offer for a house that's worth more because of the pool. A seller
desperate enough to accept that kind of offer sold their home before you
came along with one of your "several realtors".)

And that's why this question doesn't come up very often.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
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