Have You Heard of Swimply? San Angelo Hasn’t

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It's being called the 'Airbnb for pools.' Swimply is a site for pool owners to make a little money on the side by renting out their 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.

The story from the Wall Street Journal goes on to say renting a pool can be quite the money maker for some homeowners.

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.

I decided to go to the Swimply web site and see what is available here in San Angelo. Apparently, San Angelo has not jumped on the Swimply craze yet because my search resulted in zero pools found.

Seeing as my San Angelo search went nowhere, I decided to expand my search to somewhere else in Texas.

My parents have a pool where they live in New Braunfels. Just for fun I looked up pools in New Braunfels. They have 17 pools listed on Swimply for prices up to $60 an hour.

I told my mother about Swimply. My mother told me she would not want to rent her pool out to strangers and not to tell my dad because he would do it for the money. So, mom, make sure dad does not read this blog!

We would like to know what you think of Swimply. Would you rent someone's backyard pool? Pool owners, would you consider renting out your pool? Tell us on Facebook or chat with us on our station app.