Summer Rental: Where to rent a pool, boat, or tennis court
Raise the summer by renting some amazing pools and boats on these websites.
A few years ago, Uber and the startup called Airbnb changed the way Americans thought about taxis and hotels.
An app named Swimply is trying another paradigm shift. This time, the subjects were in the pool.
Swimply allows users to rent a backyard pool every hour. According to 28-year-old CEO Bunim Laskin, the company, launched in 2019, hosts 15,000 private pools in over 150 cities. He says the business has doubled over the past year.
Renting a neighbor’s swimming pool is “a brand new behavior that is objectively healthy for people in every way possible,” Ruskin said. “It’s one app that lets you clean up your phone and spend time with the people you love.”
Rent a backyard pool: How does it work?
And if you own a backyard pool, you may wonder exactly how an app like Swimply works.
How about having lots of strangers appear and jump into your pool? What do your neighbors think? Who will supply the towels?
As before Uber and Airbnb, Swimply has spurred bureaucratic confusion in some local governments.
Remember when Uber threatened the country’s taxi fleet and when cities mobilized to ban Airbnb rentals? A similar skirmish is swimming and erupting.
In Rockland County, New York, authorities are investigating whether private pool rentals violate the public health code. Regulators in Minnesota and North Carolina treat swimming as a “public pool,” but the term refers to licensing and regulations. The wealthy DC suburbs struggle to swim.
Ruskin said regulatory challenges have affected “less than 0.2%” of pool hosts.
“The pool is extremely dangerous.”
Questions are also swirling about potential responsibility. After all, the pool is filled with water. People are owned in the water. Many homeowners spend an extremely long time moving away from the backyard pool rather than seducing strangers.
“The pool is extremely dangerous,” said Matthew Alegi, a real estate attorney outside of Washington, D.C.
Of course, the idea of renting a backyard pool is nothing new. Many vacation rentals come with a pool. Home sharing and vacation rental sites Airbnb and VRBO offer liability insurance. Some insurance companies offer short-term rental coverage.
However, when I’m swimming, I only rent a pool. In the world of home insurance, this is a scenario that is not very familiar to you.
“The problem is that these homeowners aren’t doing any research to make sure the policy covers it if something goes wrong,” said Halil Farrer, a personal injury lawyer in Jacksonville, Florida.
Laskin, CEO of Swimply, said the app offers $1 million in liability coverage to all pool rental hosts. All pool guests sign the exemption.
However, Fara is worried that Swimply’s insurance policy has “exclusions.” He said swimming would deny compensation if pool tenants drink alcohol or breach a rental agreement.
Fara said it would be prudent for a pool host to contact his home insurance company to explain the situation and seek policy supplements that cover the inherent debts inherent in renting a backyard pool.
“You need to make sure your insurance agent knows what you’re using it,” he said.
Regarding families considering renting a pool for others, Alegi said Alegi should know the potential risks, especially if they rent outside of their community.
“You don’t know people,” he said. “You don’t know where. You don’t know how many ring cameras you have.”
Pool hosts must set basic rules for their neighbors
Swimply took a careful approach to pooling rentals, and Laskin said he was totally aware that not everyone on the block would welcome random strangers in swimsuits.
Pool hosts must reach out to their neighbors to establish basic rules regarding parking, pool times and other etiquette items.
“And we give our neighbors a way to report when things don’t work,” Ruskin said.
All new pool lists confirmed that they are safe and secure “after a 24-hour verification process by our trust and safety team,” followed by an ongoing “review and reporting system.” Pool rentals with 1 star reviews will be removed from the app.
Ruskin said he dreamed of swimming in 2018. He was the oldest 12 children in a Lakewood, New Jersey family. A neighbor set up a pool.
Repeating the pool, Ruskin offered to help his neighbor at her expense if Ruskin’s children allowed them to use it. The neighbor reluctantly agreed. Within two weeks she had five families rented a pool, each paying a portion of the cost.
Taking inspiration, Ruskin set out to build a business.
“I went to Google Earth, found 80 swimming pools, knocked on everyone’s doors, the four of them agreed and painted my phone numbers around town,” he said.
From 4 pools to 15,000
Ruskin began renting in four Lakewood pools. By the end of summer, 20 more pool owners had signed on. By the summer of 2019, the list of hosts had grown to 40.
Ruskin dropped out of school, raised $1 million and swam. The app has grown from 5 cities in 2019 to 35 in 2020. Businesses were booming in the pandemic as families searched for uncrowded pools. Swimply is based in Venice, California, and is not far from the competition.
Ruskin said between 2024 and 2025, the number of hosts swimmers doubled between 7,000 and 15,000. He believes inflation has helped.
“People are looking for more additional revenue streams than ever before, and people are trying to stay local,” he said.
Swimply is very popular with moms staying at home. This is a population that is always looking for healthy outdoor activities. Ruskin said about 70% of swimmers are family. Others are the only adults aiming to swim laps. Some are large groups seeking pool parties. Almost every guest rents a pool in their community.
Pool hosts can exclude large groups, children or pets. You can also invite pets. Pet-friendly pools are gaining popularity, Ruskin said.
Hourly rates can exceed $300 for the palace pool with sea views. In the summer, nine out of 10 rentals occur, while in the winter you turn big businesses with indoor pools, hot tubs and other warm options.
Some hosts throw additional services. Ruskin and his wife rented a pool package with a chef-prepared dinner, a magic show and pickle ball lessons.
“The goal was for your backyard pool to make you hundreds of dollars, perhaps a thousand dollars in the summer,” Ruskin said. “And now we have people making $100,000 a year. The goal was to make it pay for your pool. Now it’s paying for people’s mortgages.”