Man Is Left ‘Speechless’ After Finding A ‘$160k-Worth’ Swimming Pool Hidden In The Garden Of The House He Bought For $20k
The only thing better than finding a pot of gold in your backyard is stumbling upon a hidden swimming pool. When 35-year-old nurse John Reynolds bought a dilapidated 3-bedroom house for 20k dollars, he was planning to fix it up and sell it off for a bit of profit.
But the last thing that the Texan was expecting was to find a 40k-gallon swimming pool buried right underneath his nose. Now, John feels like he hit the jackpot. With a splash!
In fact, he’s so happy with the find that he no longer wants to sell the house despite its worth having increased more than he hoped for.
When John bought a rundown house, this is what his backyard looked like
Image credits: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
He had no idea that there was a swimming pool hidden there!
Image credits: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
Luckily, a torrential downpour washed away some dirt and he finally realized what he’d been sitting on
Image credits: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
John emptied all the debris, furniture, and other junk from the massive pool
Image credits: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
He spent 10k dollars and fixed up the pool over 18 months. Now, it looks absolutely stunning
Image credits: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
The worth of his property has increased because of his find, but John doesn’t plan to sell the house
Image credits: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
John felt like a lottery winner
“It feels like I have stumbled across a winning lottery ticket,” he told Mercury Press. “Never in a million years when I bought the property did I think I would be swimming in my own pool. I bought it as a bit of an investment with the intention to do it up and sell it on, but it has yielded so many surprises I don’t know if I can let it go.”
The house in Mineral Wells, built back in 1955, was previously lived in by a hoarder for two decades. After the previous owner passed away, the property stood empty for a year: it was filled to the brim with junk, there were gangs of feral cats roaming about, and the garden was an overgrown jungle.
The local county authority was going to bulldoze the house down before John offered to buy it a couple of years ago.
He wouldn’t have realized he had a pool if not for a storm and a friendly neighbor
John had no idea that he bought a house with a pool until some heavy rain shifted the dirt a few months after the property became his.
“I could see a bit of concrete edging but I just thought it was part of the patio or more flower beds. There was so much going on with the house, that little area was my last concern, but I did notice that it was always boggy despite the fact we hadn’t had any rainfall for weeks.”
When the storm came, John’s neighbor called him and asked him if he’d seen the pool.
“I said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t have a pool’ and she said ‘yes you do.’ “When I went out, you could just see the waterline tile and the water was standing right up next to it. I was in shock.”
John spent the past 18 months renovating the 32×17 ft pool and now he and his friends get to enjoy it every single day. The pool had been filled with old furniture, car parts, and other items. John spent 10k dollars repairing, cleaning, repainting, and refilling the pool. Building a pool like this from scratch would cost around 16 times the amount of money he invested in the repairs, according to The Sun.
Here’s what some internet users said about John’s lucky find
To build a pool of that size from scratch would not cost $160,000 (16x $10k). Those numbers are way, way off
I have a filled in pool in my yard, and so does the neighbor across the street and my neighbor to the north. They were filled in for good reason- the unending expense of upkeep. Even my little fishpond of 1000 gallons/3800 liters is expensive to maintain.
I also wonder if it's up to code because it seems so close to the neighboring property
Load More Replies...Amazed that the headline blindly goes along with the bizarre notion from a tabloid that this pool would cost $160k.
Next time on "Hidden backyard treasures": Man finds pool table in backyard. "I thought it was just a really neatly trimmed part of the lawn! Now my house is worth 10 million more"!
"Absolutely stunning" ? Um, ok. It's nice but could still use some pressure washing in some places.
I have to admit those stains or whatever on the bottom completely squick me out!
Load More Replies...I bought a house with a pool that is what I was looking for 10 years ago. The up keep is not so bad. As long you keep that up and not fall behind the cost isn't bad. I use it weekly but I do live in California. I have always used it more than my kids so I didn't buy it for them. You have to really enjoy and want the expensive to have one.
Has the value actually increased 11x because of the pool? I doubt it! In Europe typically a swimming pool adds 10% of its value to the house: Adding a 160K pool to a 200K house makes the house worth 216K (roughly) not 360K. I suspect similar in the US --- main reason it got filled it, when its value was below running yearly maintenance cost. If his house was worth 20K it was in poor condition/tiny/dangerous... even with a great swimming pool people would not now pay 220K for that house --- he's probably addressing the other problems the house had as well.
Where I live the value of the property would actually go down. Pools are too much maintenance and not desired in my area.
Load More Replies...A swimming pool is a good example of a "sunk cost" (no pun intended). If you find that you aren't getting enough use or enjoyment to justify the ongoing maintenance cost, then you should cut your losses and just bury it. It doesn't matter how much money you've already spent on it.
The house across the street from me has a pool like this, completely filled in with dirt. :( Sadly the owner has passed away and his family isn't doing anything with the house for the last couple of years. What a waste.
Years ago we sold a house with a large pool to rather strict religious people who filled it in to extend a vegetable garden. I sometimes wonder if the current owners know it is there.
What does being "rather strict religious people" have to do with vegetable gardens?
Load More Replies...Thanks for sharing your knowledge and information with others. It was really helpful. In Las Vegas we are all about pools and water during the summer so we’ve had a pool forever. Recently we wrote a post about if someone should buy a home with a pool in Nevada that I’ll share: https://homesforsale.vegas/buy-with- pool We’ve built and designed 4 safe pools. Design is the most important factor. Again, great post. Kurt Grosse https://homesforsale.vegas/
One comment, it may not be up to code, I hope it is, the man deserves his lucky find !!!
Pulling numbers out of your a**e, Bored Panda. And now they have no yard.
"he had no idea there was a pool" until the rain washed some dirt away. Yet, in the first pic, taken before the supposed rain, you can clearly see the outline of the pool, and the second pic, taken after the supposed rain, is from the exact same position and angle.
Tough choice, though: pool or garden? I think I might go with a garden, unless the summers there are boiling.
In the US, I've heard many times that a pool will lower the value of the property. A realtor once told me that buyers will often require that a pool be filled in as a condition of purchase.
Yeah, pools are a wrought. It makes me laugh that (some) people think they are a great investment. They are not worth the expense relative to their use, at all. Better to plant trees and make a garden, better for the environment, better for our air quality, etc. Here in Australia they are subdividing everything and having tiny concrete gardens with pools and the actual temperature of suburbs is going up, and its making me so freaking sad. Plant trees!
Hah, my neighbors have a pool but our backyard is like a jungle to the point where we probably have enough vegetation for the 2 of us.
Load More Replies...Here's the original article on The Sun. Strange that BoredPanda wouldn't mention that. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12592948/texas-man-finds-pool-house-rain/
To build a pool of that size from scratch would not cost $160,000 (16x $10k). Those numbers are way, way off
I have a filled in pool in my yard, and so does the neighbor across the street and my neighbor to the north. They were filled in for good reason- the unending expense of upkeep. Even my little fishpond of 1000 gallons/3800 liters is expensive to maintain.
I also wonder if it's up to code because it seems so close to the neighboring property
Load More Replies...Amazed that the headline blindly goes along with the bizarre notion from a tabloid that this pool would cost $160k.
Next time on "Hidden backyard treasures": Man finds pool table in backyard. "I thought it was just a really neatly trimmed part of the lawn! Now my house is worth 10 million more"!
"Absolutely stunning" ? Um, ok. It's nice but could still use some pressure washing in some places.
I have to admit those stains or whatever on the bottom completely squick me out!
Load More Replies...I bought a house with a pool that is what I was looking for 10 years ago. The up keep is not so bad. As long you keep that up and not fall behind the cost isn't bad. I use it weekly but I do live in California. I have always used it more than my kids so I didn't buy it for them. You have to really enjoy and want the expensive to have one.
Has the value actually increased 11x because of the pool? I doubt it! In Europe typically a swimming pool adds 10% of its value to the house: Adding a 160K pool to a 200K house makes the house worth 216K (roughly) not 360K. I suspect similar in the US --- main reason it got filled it, when its value was below running yearly maintenance cost. If his house was worth 20K it was in poor condition/tiny/dangerous... even with a great swimming pool people would not now pay 220K for that house --- he's probably addressing the other problems the house had as well.
Where I live the value of the property would actually go down. Pools are too much maintenance and not desired in my area.
Load More Replies...A swimming pool is a good example of a "sunk cost" (no pun intended). If you find that you aren't getting enough use or enjoyment to justify the ongoing maintenance cost, then you should cut your losses and just bury it. It doesn't matter how much money you've already spent on it.
The house across the street from me has a pool like this, completely filled in with dirt. :( Sadly the owner has passed away and his family isn't doing anything with the house for the last couple of years. What a waste.
Years ago we sold a house with a large pool to rather strict religious people who filled it in to extend a vegetable garden. I sometimes wonder if the current owners know it is there.
What does being "rather strict religious people" have to do with vegetable gardens?
Load More Replies...Thanks for sharing your knowledge and information with others. It was really helpful. In Las Vegas we are all about pools and water during the summer so we’ve had a pool forever. Recently we wrote a post about if someone should buy a home with a pool in Nevada that I’ll share: https://homesforsale.vegas/buy-with- pool We’ve built and designed 4 safe pools. Design is the most important factor. Again, great post. Kurt Grosse https://homesforsale.vegas/
One comment, it may not be up to code, I hope it is, the man deserves his lucky find !!!
Pulling numbers out of your a**e, Bored Panda. And now they have no yard.
"he had no idea there was a pool" until the rain washed some dirt away. Yet, in the first pic, taken before the supposed rain, you can clearly see the outline of the pool, and the second pic, taken after the supposed rain, is from the exact same position and angle.
Tough choice, though: pool or garden? I think I might go with a garden, unless the summers there are boiling.
In the US, I've heard many times that a pool will lower the value of the property. A realtor once told me that buyers will often require that a pool be filled in as a condition of purchase.
Yeah, pools are a wrought. It makes me laugh that (some) people think they are a great investment. They are not worth the expense relative to their use, at all. Better to plant trees and make a garden, better for the environment, better for our air quality, etc. Here in Australia they are subdividing everything and having tiny concrete gardens with pools and the actual temperature of suburbs is going up, and its making me so freaking sad. Plant trees!
Hah, my neighbors have a pool but our backyard is like a jungle to the point where we probably have enough vegetation for the 2 of us.
Load More Replies...Here's the original article on The Sun. Strange that BoredPanda wouldn't mention that. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12592948/texas-man-finds-pool-house-rain/
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