7 Worst Home Design Mistakes These Real Estate Experts Made

Omer Reiner, a licensed realtor and president of FL Cash Home Buyers, LLC, a real estate investment company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, said his worst home design mistake was adding a pool to one of his investment properties.

“Pools almost never provide a good return on investment if you are fixing a house to sell to someone else,” he said. “Many people want a backyard or even a pool they themselves would like for their personal needs. Having a pool already will limit those possibilities.”

Reiner once added a shallow pool to a house in hopes that it would be attractive to retired people who could use it as a place to exercise. However, this made him miss out on a potential buyer who was an avid swimmer and hated the idea of a shallow pool.

“I missed out on a good buyer and needed to sell the property for less,” he said.

Reiner said that an in-ground pool only adds 5% to the home’s value, on average.

“Since most in-ground pools cost around $40,000 — over 10% of home value, even in today’s market — it is hardly worth it,” he said. “In addition, pools can be liabilities. Even if a person is injured in your pool after trespassing, the owner could be liable if proper safety measures are not taken.”

Now, Reiner only fixes up pools at houses that already have them, or even fills in existing pools. “No real estate investor should ever do any differently,” he said.