No pool, no problem — Ontario homeowners are making extra cash renting their pools on Swimply. Now the rental app wants to expand into home gyms, tennis courts

Kevin Benton has owned his Burlington home with a beautiful backyard pool for about 14 years.

But in May he began renting out his private paradise by the hour through California-based pool rental platform Swimply. That makes his saltwater pool one of about 300 Canadian Swimply listings — 200 of them are in Ontario and 78 in the Toronto area, according to a search of the Swimply site on Thursday.

The idea of renting pools by the hour has attracted surprising interest in Ontario, says the company’s vice-president of growth, Sonny Mayugba. Ontario was second only to California in the second quarter of this year in user acquisitions — people “who join up or download the app.” That’s after a first quarter in which Ontario didn’t even register among the Top 20 markets.

Swimply started in 2019. But the concept really took off in the pandemic.

Swimply has 15,000 pool listings in North America and Australia, and there are hundreds more hosts being on-boarded, which means the company checks that they do have a pool that is properly priced. The platform takes a 15 per cent cut of the rental price.

With 10.4 million swimming pools in the U.S. alone, there’s lots of room to expand in the swimming space but Swimply wants to be more than a pool site, says Mayugba.

That is why it plans to launch Joyspace — a platform for rentals of private tennis courts, outdoor kitchens and yoga studios, home gyms and climbing walls.

“Cool spaces by the hour — that’s the way to think about Swimply,” he says. “You would be surprised what people have built in their backyards. It’s just incredible. We have a San Diego host who literally built a professional 18-hole miniature golf course — with night lighting.”

Unlike Airbnb where homeowners often leave their properties when they rent them out, most Swimply hosts are present while their pools are in use, says Mayugba. Only homeowners are allowed to rent pools on the platform.

Benton says that in nine out of 10 cases, he personally greets his guests and usually sticks around during the rental. If the guests are repeat visitors he might pop in and out.

It is the simplicity of the system that attracted him to renting his pool, he said. The money helps pay some bills, he meets interesting people and, when guests leave, it’s simply a matter of wiping down the bar and running the pool vacuum.

“The pool’s already there. It’s already sanitized, it’s already clean — all the costs are static. The amount of money you have to spend to maintain a pool that’s used versus not used, is almost inconsequential,” said Benton.

Mayugba says the average Swimply rental costs $45 an hour but there’s a range from $15 to $150 an hour. All prices are in U.S. dollars, including Canadian rentals. The host sets the price.

GTA pool listings ranged from $23 (U.S.) an hour for a standard city pool and a couple of chairs, to $200 an hour for a posh, landscaped oasis in King City. Most go for $50 to $75 an hour.

Benton’s Burlington pool comes with a cabana bar, patio furniture, pool toys, life jackets, a mini fridge and bluetooth speakers. It rents for $55.20 an hour on weekdays and $69 an hour on weekends for the first five guests. His listing adds $10 per hour for each additional guest.

So far, he estimates he’s done between 40 and 50 rentals this season.

Mayugba says the average rental party is five people but bigger parties make for more economical swims.

“When you talk about 10 people for three hours, you’re talking $15 a head,” he said. “It’s cheaper than bowling.”

Although the majority of users are families, pools are also rented for parties, physical therapy and swimming lessons, even photo and video shoots.

Benson said he hosted two parents and two kids this week. “They had literally just come from another Swimply pool in Burlington. They were pool hopping so they got to jump around and try a couple of different ones,” he said.

He has learned to screen out guests who might overstay their welcome or disturb the neighbours through profile pictures, the tone of their messages and requests for late night bookings without children. Swimply hosts in the Toronto area also have an informal Facebook group where information gets shared.

Benton doesn’t accept late, loud parties but he isn’t concerned about adults having a drink or two. “I have a family that comes to me regularly. They bring food, they set it up like they’re going to the beach and make a whole afternoon of it. I don’t care if they have a couple of beers,” he said.

According to Mayugba, 80 per cent of Swimply listings include washroom access. Those that don’t are limited to one-hour reservations.

Swimply users pay and receive their instructions on how to enter the pool — usually through a gate beside the house — through the app. Benton asks his guests to be respectful of the booking time. Sometimes he will poke his head out with a friendly reminder that the reservation is coming to an end. If guests want to extend the time and the pool is available he will try and accommodate them.

Although they are rare because the Swimply hosts are usually on site, Mayugba says there are occasional issues such as guests who say they are bringing four people and show up with 20. The company has 24-7 customer service and neighbours and guests can launch complaints by phone or email. A review system allows guests to review hosts but hosts also review guests. Out of tens of thousands of rentals a month, fewer than one per cent have any problems, said Mayugba.

The Swimply app leaves an hour gap between bookings. Benton said that rule was put in place to deal with COVID-19 but some hosts would like to see it cut to 30 minutes because the hour-long gap reduces their income potential if they get a lot of one-hour bookings.

Mayugba said Swimply’s insurance program provides hosts with $1 million in liability insurance and $10,000 in property damage. But he acknowledged hosts should check on local requirements. Swimply is fighting an attempt by Wisconsin to treat backyard pool rentals as commercial pools that require a licence.

The Star checked with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). It advised that people renting a home or pool on a short- or long-term basis speak to their insurance representative.

“Entering such a host rental agreement could cause a material change of risk to your property profile — meaning you must inform your insurer. It’s in your best interest to let your insurer know before any potential damage or injury occurs while your place is rented,” IBC said in an email.

I tried it: A test-swim of Swimply

The first time you rent a pool through Swimply it can feel strange — a bit like sneaking into the neighbour’s yard, says Swimply vice-president Sonny Mayugba.

“But once you do it, this is no different than getting into an Uber,” he said.

My editor agreed to help cover an hour’s rental of an average pool listing so I could check out the user experience.

Mayugba’s description turned out to be pretty right on. My adult daughter said she felt weird, like we were trespassing, as we crept up the side of a standard suburban house about 15 minutes from our Mississauga home.

When the gate opened to reveal an inflatable flamingo and palm tree floating in a sparkling pool, she was delighted but hesitant. Were the people in the house watching us? We assumed someone was home because there were cars on the driveway but we spoke to no one during our hour-long rental. That was just fine, adding to the brief fantasy of it being our private pool retreat.

Our host, via the app, had instructed us to park at the curb and to message if we had any problems or questions. We didn’t. The instructions were clear and simple.

To encourage my daughter, I stepped into the pool to test the water and declared it cool but comfortable. I had declined the app’s proffered option of an extra $10 for the pool heater. I figured the recent heat wave would make the temperature comfortable and I was right.

Within a couple of minutes my daughter was floating on the flamingo and admiring the yard’s privacy and tidy landscaping.

We swam, splashed and chatted for about 45 minutes. Wanting to be mindful of the reservation’s end time I probably headed for the changing facility — a tidy pool shed with curtained windows and an outdoor carpet on the floor — a little sooner than necessary.

We were a bit sad when we closed the gate behind us. By the time we got home, our host had messaged to ask if we’d enjoyed the swim. I assured them we had and complimented their little vegetable patch beside the pool. There was a dining area, a children’s area and a hammock in the yard too.

Next time, he said, we should help ourselves to tomatoes and zucchini.

Overall the experience was seamless. The app is intuitive and friendly; the host prompt, patient and kind.

The only downsides I could see was washroom access and the American pricing. The listing said restroom access was available inside but I wasn’t sure if we would message the host or what the procedure was for that access. Swimply prices are quoted in U.S. dollars, a fact that is clear on the website but barely registered when I booked. Our $71.50 swim actually showed as $92.28 Canadian on my credit card.

Tess Kalinowski is a Toronto-based reporter covering real estate for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tesskalinowski