Ed 
Did you know the standard Texas contract already lists an above ground pool as something that stays with the house? It is right there in the form. You do not even have to ask for it. I closed a deal last week that taught me how much that one detail matters, and how a single blank line can turn into a very bad closing day.
I represented the buyer. The house was advertised with an above ground pool. The listing photos showed it, the description called it out, and the seller’s own disclosure admitted it was there. So far, normal.
And this was not some cheap cowboy pool you fill with a garden hose. Insulated liner, heater, chiller, cover. A real setup. My buyer wanted it, and why wouldn’t they. It was part of the house they fell for.
We did our inspection and found some problems, including with the pool. So we asked the seller to either repair it or give us the money to. The seller refused the repair and offered a credit instead. Ok, fine. We took the credit and headed to closing.
Then came the final walkthrough on closing day. The pool was gone. Just gone. We still do not know where it went.
Here is the part most people get wrong, and it is the whole point. That pool did not need to be negotiated for it to stay. The standard Texas contract already handled it.
Look at Paragraph 2C, Accessories. The form literally lists “above ground pool” right alongside the stove, the blinds, and the garage door controls as accessories that convey with the property. By default, it comes with the house.
Now look at Paragraph 2D, Exclusions. That is the one spot where a seller writes down anything they plan to keep and take with them. If you are the seller and you want that pool, you list it there. That is your job.
On this contract, 2D was blank. Nothing excluded. So the pool stays. The form already decided.
I know what some of you are thinking. Shouldn’t the buyer have said they wanted it? No. It works the other way around. The buyer does not have to ask for an accessory the contract already includes. The seller has to exclude it. Silence means it stays.
And this is the part I want you to actually sit with, because it is not really about who was right. Both people signed that contract. The seller signed a form that named the pool as staying and left the exclusion line empty. Whether they meant to or not, that is what they signed. The contract does not care what you meant. It cares what is on the page.
That is the lesson. Read what you sign. Then read it again. The driveway conversation, the thing you always assumed, the deal you thought you had in your head, none of it survives contact with a blank line on the paper.
One more thing, because it saved us from a much bigger mess. We caught this at the final walkthrough. We walked the property before closing instead of rushing to the table, and that is the only reason we knew before money changed hands. Do your final walkthrough. Every single time. It is your last chance to catch the thing nobody told you about.
So, does the pool come with the house? Read the contract. If it is named as an accessory and it is not written into the exclusions, it stays. It does not matter what got said in the driveway.
If you are buying or selling in Texas and you want someone who actually reads the contract line by line before you sign it, that is the whole job. Lets talk.
