An ‘Airbnb for Pools’ Is Making A Splash

Jim Battan’s tree-lined swimming pool at his home outside Portland, Ore., had been sitting untouched since his youngest daughter moved out two years ago. Then in September, he listed it through an online platform for renting private pools.

He booked the pool three times within the first two hours, and says he has hosted 2,700 guests in less than a year. Mr. Battan expects to have earned $111,000 by the end of the summer, which would just cover the $110,000 he and his wife spent on the custom-built pool eight years ago.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s weird,’ ” Mr. Battan said. “It’s nice to feel like we didn’t have to spend all $110,000 for nothing.”

He is one of 13,000 pool owners in 125 markets across the U.S., including cities like Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, who are cashing in on their underused pool by listing with the company Swimply, which some media reports have dubbed the “Airbnb for backyard pools.”

Swimply said its pool owners have made about 122,000 bookings since the start of 2020. Business began picking up before the Covid-19 pandemic, but it boomed during the health crisis as public pools closed and people sought to make extra cash or safely gather after months of lockdown.

“We’ve seen a lot of families [and friends] rekindling with Swimply,” said Bunim Laskin, Swimply co-founder and chief executive.

Hosts on average earn between about $5,000 and $10,000 a month, according to Asher Weinberger, Swimply co-founder and chief operating officer. Most pool owners charge between $35 and $50 an hour, while Swimply collects 15% from the hosts and another 10% from the guests.

Some of the hosts’ earnings help pay for costs related to pool maintenance, which have jumped during the pandemic because lockdowns and business slowdowns disrupted the pool-chemical supply chain. Mr. Weinberger said he now spends $85 a week on chemicals and servicing his pool, up from $45 before the pandemic.

“It’s a hunt for chlorine at the best price,” said Shanon Zoeller, a Swimply host in Oklahoma City, who said he has made $10,000 since he started renting out his pool last June.

Most swimmers are local families, Mr. Weinberger said. Bookings on average run five to seven people. Hosts choose their rental rate, upload photos of their pool and list amenities, such as a barbecue grill or sound system.

It’s not a party for the pool owners. Rather, hosting is “an amazing amount of work,” Mr. Battan said. Most days he wakes up at 5 a.m. to skim the water of leaves. His wife cleans the pool-house bathroom and lays out rows of pool toys before each booking.

Swimply isn’t the only pool in town. Peerspace, a marketplace for booking film-production locations and event venues, offers thousands of spaces with swimming pools at hourly rates.

“With the heat rising, we see lots of demand for outdoor spaces, many of which have pools,” said Matt Bendett, Peerspace co-founder and vice president of operations.

Short-term rental companies like Airbnb Inc. and vacation-home rental firms including Expedia Group’s Vrbo also rent homes with pools by the day.

Like Airbnb and its industry peers, Swimply has to navigate safety and liability concerns. A swimmer could drown or rowdy guests might cause property damage.

To mitigate those risks, about 80% of the company’s hosts opt to stay home while guests are using their pool, Mr. Weinberger said. The company also has in place host liability insurance for as much as $1 million and a property-damage-protection policy.

Mr. Battan said he hasn’t had a serious problem arise while renting his pool, but he still prefers to be home during bookings. “There are too many risks with unattended guests,” he said, referring to “horror stories” of underage drinking and noisy events.

Next month, Mr. Zoeller is hosting a nearly 40-person pool party. He said enforcing rules about street parking and loud music has kept his neighbours happy.

“The worst thing that’s happened is I found two beer cans in the skimmer once,” Mr. Zoeller said.

Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: July 20, 2021