Burleigh Waters sisters Elke and Zara Kennedy make a splash in the pool at their family home for sale. Picture: Nigel Hallett
Finding a huge swimming pool in the backyard of an otherwise unassuming 1970s-built home sealed the deal for Krystal and Tim Kennedy.
After purchasing the Burleigh Waters home, they learned the outdoor gem had once been a local swim school.
“The pool was a feature we could envision the kids really enjoying in the summer, and we later found out the pool had been there since the house was built in 1975,” said Ms Kennedy.
“It is quite a big pool for the size of the block and neighbours who had been in the street for a long time told us it used to be a swim school for the local kids.”
Pools are a sought-after home feature for families with children. Picture: Nigel Hallett
Back then, a backyard pool would have been considered a luxury typically reserved for prestige properties.
Today, the popular Gold Coast location of Burleigh Waters is ranked among the country’s top 10 suburbs with the most swimming pools.
Ray White data shows 323 houses with a swimming pool were listed for sale in the suburb over the last two years, and it was estimated the feature added about $50,000 to the home sale price.
Ms Kennedy, a registered nurse, said their two daughters, Zara, 10, and Elke, 8, spent weekends between the pool and the beach.
View from the street of the Kennedy home on Dabchick Dr, Burleigh Waters
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They are selling due to a change in personal circumstances, with the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Dabchick Dr listed at $1.65m with Juliana Gomes, of Passos Agency.
It has been renovated with reference to classic mid-century style, providing a family haven just 5 minutes’ bike ride from famous Burleigh Beach. Features include a contemporary kitchen with island bench, air-conditioned master bedroom with renovated ensuite, and a separate home office or playroom.
The pool has also been refurbished, with the Kennedys installing a glass fence soon after moving in.
It has been renovated in mid-century modern style
The kitchen has an island bench
Ms Gomes said buyers placed a pool high on their checklist of features when house hunting.
“Even when you live so close to the beach, the pool still adds to the property’s value, especially for a family with children,” she said.
“When it is so hot and humid you can’t spend the whole day on the beach so you come home to the pool.
“It makes any home an entertainer,” she said.
Swimming pools were the top most searched feature among buyers on realestate.com.au in Queensland in 2023.
Property records show the Kennedys purchased the house for $605,000 in 2014.
PropTrack data shows the median house price in Burleigh Waters is $1.24m, up 6.6 per cent over the past 12 months.
An aerial view of the property
The post The $50k home feature with a priceless past appeared first on realestate.com.au.