Selling a hot tub with a house

[brewski]

Looking for some advice and opinions on selling a hot tub with a house. My wife and I are considering building a new home in the next 6 to 12 months and most likely would want to purchase a new hot tub for the new house. We are not sure how to go about selling our current tub, i.e., should we sell it separately from the house or would we be better to include it with the purchase price of the house? The tub is only 2+ years old and we have taken very good care of it.

Many thanks for any suggestions and your help.

[Vinny]

I would see how the reaction is to the tub before making the decision. Obviously the tub is worth less now than when new, if the tub looks like it's well cared for a new home buyer may opt for the tub. Adding $10,000 to the price of the house is not a good idea but it may bring in an extra $2,000 to the selling price.

Another thought about it is all the wiring is there already and how would a potential home buyer view the wiring.

I personally think that a well maintained tub is a selling point to the right buyer. I know of stories that people buy a house with a tub and have to cut it apart because it is in really bad shape.

[Steve]

In most instances, a hot tub is considered a selling feature and I would suggest to price it as a package. If the prospective new owners are not interested at all, keep it and you're out anything other than the transport cost (which you could factor into the final price).

[Brewman]

I'd check with a few realtors and get their take on it.  As a buyer, I wouldn't really expect to pay much (if any) more for a house with ahot tub.  But at the very least it may be a nice "tie breaker", or a negotiotion point.  
 A lot depends on the real estate market in your area.  And the potential buyers interest in the spa.  Some buyers may think it's cool, and others may look at it as soemething to suck up even more electricity.  A good realtor could tell you their experiences with buyers and sellers.  

You could always allow potential buyers to wet test the spa- Toss them a few glasses of wine, hand them a pen and purchase agreement.............

[ndabunka]

C'mon, you guys call yourselves salesmen?  I'd say that you should keep the inclusion/exclusion of the hot tub separate from the house negotiations.  You may have already decided to sell it but the prospective buyers don't need to know that.  If they have been congenial in the negotiations and want the tub included as the "deal maker" then you can "throw it in there for free" and it will make you appear even more accomodating.  If they aren't the type that see any value in the hot tub or already have their own they are bringing with them (doesn't everybody?) you can simply take it with you to the new house or sell it to someone else (one of your existing neighbors?) before you move (you usually  have a month or two before you have ot leave so that is normally plenty to move a used tub).  As far as value goes... that's always in the eyes of the buyer but a good rule of measure is 50% of what you ORIGINALLY paid for it.  If it's fairly new, you might get 60% and likewise an older tub may only bring in $500.  My advice it to price your house with the expectation that the tub is going with it but exclude it from being listed on the selling agreement so that you can use it as  negotiating tool (if you need too).  When pricing it into the house only place 50% of the original cost into that projection.  If the buyers have nickled and dimed you the entire way you can take some satisfation in knowing that you can always keep the tub out of it and sell if yourself to a separate party.

[drewstar]

Free house with the purchase of a hot tub!


Hot tub Price: $450,000.00

[Vinny]

C'mon, you guys call yourselves salesmen?  

Nope, I ain't no salesman and don't you ever INSULT me like that again!

Ok, I did sell my last house by myself and saved the money on the commission but I did it to clear more money since I was loosing money on the house to begin with ... but that's a whole different story.

I see tubs differently as most of the people I know who looked or bought a house with a tub don't "love" it. As a matter of fact out of the few people who I know of only one kept the tub after buying the house and the husband wanted to get rid of it but since it was inside and sunk into the floor, he wasn't willing to get rid of it. A couple of people actually took a saws all to it and got rid of it.

That's why I think it may only appeal to a certain buyer but the trend today is to have a tub so maybe going with the trend a tub can be a selling point.

[ndabunka]

Nope, I ain't no salesman and don't you ever INSULT me like that again!

Ok, I did sell my last house by myself and saved the money on the commission but I did it to clear more money since I was loosing money on the house to begin with ... but that's a whole different story.

I see tubs differently as most of the people I know who looked or bought a house with a tub don't "love" it. As a matter of fact out of the few people who I know of only one kept the tub after buying the house and the husband wanted to get rid of it but since it was inside and sunk into the floor, he wasn't willing to get rid of it. A couple of people actually took a saws all to it and got rid of it.

That's why I think it may only appeal to a certain buyer but the trend today is to have a tub so maybe going with the trend a tub can be a selling point.

Vinny - I think your point of reference may simply be "off".  I too have seen a number of older tubs that simply aren't worth the materials they are made of that have been simply "left behind" when the prior owners moved.  In some cases, they HAD to leave them because they would have fallen apart if they had attempted to move them.  Howver, that is not the type of tub in question here.  The original poster appears to have a welll made, name brand, recent model tub.  His tub does have value whereas those you rerferenced had no value (to anyone sans the prior owners).   I agree that even some "newer" tubs may have little value (a 3 year old Phoenix or Sunbelt for example).  In many of those cases, service is unavailable and the original company that sold them the spa may not even be in business anymore.

[Vinny]

My view may be off. And I do agree that his tub is a working, clean and inviting tub not a POS that was left. My view is based on a working guy with a family who wasn't exposed to such luxuries as a tub growing up. It also comes from having children and sometimes living paycheck to paycheck but making sure my kids have what they need. No excess salary here!  Your life may be different.

When I was looking at houses the last thing I wanted was a house with a swimming pool. We saw houses where the pool was the backyard and there was very little area for the kids to play in.  Also, I was deterred by the amount of work that is required to maintain a pool. I now own a swimming pool where I live.

I believe that different areas and money brackets have different wants. My wife tells me that I get looks of puzzlement when I tell people I have a tub. Obviously the people I talk to a tub would be a deterent not a great thing. But that may be the mentality of living in Jersey and talking to blue collar and lower white collar people.

People with small children (I own a 4 bedroom house) may shy away do to the "danger".  We all know that water and kids can be a problem.

Upkeep, we all know that it is relatively easy to maintain but someone without our knowledge (99.9% of that people out there) may think it's too hard (I thought that of swimming pools). My lesson with the swimming pool is that it is 85% easier to maintain than I though or remember what my father went through.

And finally cost as someone said, a new owner may not believe that it's only about $1 a day to operate. If they are looking a little above their means as a lot of people do, an energy sucking tub is not going to be something they want. If a house is $400K and they just can afford it, adding an additional $100 a month electric bill on top of the already topped out money may be a killer. I hear a lot of people complain that their electric and gas is so expensive here in Jersey, when prodded they tell you how big their house is ... more square footage = more cost.

Also, it's been my experience that no matter how good or bad the info is, people usually run with the negatives or the person who has no experience. I once was trying to help someone out who was having problems with her pool. She had no clue so I offered to help. She was talking to a neighbor who was just as clueless and followed that advice vs mine ... and then wondered wht it didn't work, it may be true with a tub too.

[In_Too_Long]

This is where a tub with a transferable guarantee would add value to the hot tub.

[autoplay]

People are looking to buy a house,not a hot tub.  You could pad the price of the house up a few G's,and sell it that way.  If you do sell the tub prior to selling your house......after removal of the tub,will the area it was sitting on,show weathering,or lack there-of,in comparision to the area around it?

Why not have Bill,start a raffle for you and your spa,here on this site?

[Chas]

Simply offer the house with or without the tub. If they choose to buy the house without the tub, list the tub on Craigslist for a low price - and let the buyer know that they are responsible for complete removal.

 8-)