Would you buy a house with a pool?

[Anonymous]

I am wondering, what do you people do when you go to a resort with the pool with your toddlers? Or do you never go to such places at all unless your kids are 7 ?? All the fear mongering here is crazy. OP, if you find a house you like, in this seller's market, I don't think you can be picky, besides, it's better for you to get a good deal on a house all the fear mongers will pass by. If you decide pool ownership is not for you, then you can always fill it in or just enclose it and not use it until your kids are older or you are more comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering, what do you people do when you go to a resort with the pool with your toddlers? Or do you never go to such places at all unless your kids are 7 ??

The two situations are in no way comparable

1. most resort pools have lifeguards
2. if there is no lifeguard- like in a hotel pool- there is usually a fence around the pool as a separate enclosure
3. I watch my children in a resort- there is no opportunity for them to wander off
4. I don't feel responsible for other people's children at a resort pool in the way that I would at my house.

[Anonymous]

we bought in 2010 and never even went to see otherwise eligible homes if they had a pool (we had a 18 month old at the time and a 4 yr old). did not want to spend the money for the maintenance, and definitely did not want to take any risks with my kids. the idea of becoming a magnet for young kids it was even more scary, definitely did not want to spend my week ends playing lifeguard for other people's kids (and mine). we go to Wilson (free) or to other open air pool in the area, I watch my kids and when we are done we go home and have no worries and no expenses. I have tons of friends who thought the same, so I suspect that having a pool may limit the number of buyers and make more difficult to resell

[Anonymous]

We would definitely buy a house with a pool. It isn't a must have, but both of my kids are excellent swimmers (competitive year round swim team) and DH likes the exercise.

[Anonymous]

Tons of maintenance and insurance costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tons of maintenance and insurance costs.

Not true. We put in a pool two years ago. I'm not going to debate the pros and cons, they've already been stated above. We happen to love pools, swimming, our kids are older, and my DH has an aversion to public pools (too many chemicals, kids who vomit and pee in the pool, etc.)

I'll just talk about insurance and maintenance. If it's a new pool, the maintenance is actually quite low. Ours is a salt water pool. We never put chemicals in it except the first day it is opened in the Spring. Then we have to put in chlorine to kill any bacteria that has grown over the winter. After that, we only add salt, and usually only once or twice during the season. So we never have to buy or mess with chemicals. To clean the pool, we have a little robot called a Polaris, that is on a timer and turns on for about 3 hours per day. That cleans out any and all leaves, debris, etc. Only if we have a big storm do I have to pull out the skimmer to take out larger things that might fall in during a storm. We've had a pool company service it bi-weekly that past two years, but there is really so little to do that I'm not going to hire them again this year. You can really do it all yourself. We also have a heater which allows us to use the pool from May to October. We also have a spa attached that we use longer in the season. We have a remote control that controls everything - heater, lights, waterfalls, filter, Polaris, etc. It's really cool.

I would imagine an older pool will be more maintenance, but if it's new, chances are it's salt water. Our pool company said almost all the pools they put in today are salt water and they are much lower maintenance than chemical pools - and much better for your skin.

The addition of the pool and attached spa added about 200.00 per year to our homeowner's insurance. So no big deal for us.

It might be harder for us to sell our house, but we plan to be here a long time so we'll have enjoyed our backyard immensely before we have to face that challenge.

Good luck - it's a personal decision. We love having our pool but understand that there are people who wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole!

[Anonymous]

Hell no. I like my kid and don't want her to drown.

[Anonymous]

No. We rented a house with a pool and it was a huge pain. The pool was older and required a lot of maintenance. The cost of the chemicals plus having to add water all the time was expensive. Also our kids were under 5 so we had to be hypervigilent. We moved out and joined one of the local swim clubs and have found that the kids like it much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hell no. I like my kid and don't want her to drown.

Then you should teach her how to swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hell no. I like my kid and don't want her to drown.

Then you should teach her how to swim.

Not here but I would in another climate. I want an electric cover with an alarm. No free form pool for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had money to hire someone to take care of it, YES.

But in reality, NO.

+1000...best answer!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had money to hire someone to take care of it, YES.

But in reality, NO.

+1000...best answer!!

To add to my +1000 stmt. One of my friends has an inground ( 3+ years old) which together with bar, hot tub, lights, expensive railing and landscaping probably cost him upwards of 75k. Proabably more since the bar was 20K. I love visiting him and he has the money to maintain it. Then my bro-in-law bought an older home (1960) 3 years ago with a huge pool - what a PIA to maintain. Of course he doesn't have the dicretionary $ and time, so it has now become a huge headache. First couple years was great, but the excitement eventually wore off.

So if you have the money, go for it! I would.....but get a real pool, and not the ponds like in SFL...lol

[Anonymous]

Too much $$ to maintain and after a few years the thrill wears off.

If I lived in Fl or AZ it would be a must.

[Anonymous]

Not with small kids. Maybe if my kids were older and we had more money. I had one in high school and it was awesome. I also have a child with a chemical sensitivity so a salt water pool would be great. But today, no, I wouldn't consider a house with a pool. But in five or ten years? Maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tons of maintenance and insurance costs.

Not true. We put in a pool two years ago. I'm not going to debate the pros and cons, they've already been stated above. We happen to love pools, swimming, our kids are older, and my DH has an aversion to public pools (too many chemicals, kids who vomit and pee in the pool, etc.)

I'll just talk about insurance and maintenance. If it's a new pool, the maintenance is actually quite low. Ours is a salt water pool. We never put chemicals in it except the first day it is opened in the Spring. Then we have to put in chlorine to kill any bacteria that has grown over the winter. After that, we only add salt, and usually only once or twice during the season. So we never have to buy or mess with chemicals. To clean the pool, we have a little robot called a Polaris, that is on a timer and turns on for about 3 hours per day. That cleans out any and all leaves, debris, etc. Only if we have a big storm do I have to pull out the skimmer to take out larger things that might fall in during a storm. We've had a pool company service it bi-weekly that past two years, but there is really so little to do that I'm not going to hire them again this year. You can really do it all yourself. We also have a heater which allows us to use the pool from May to October. We also have a spa attached that we use longer in the season. We have a remote control that controls everything - heater, lights, waterfalls, filter, Polaris, etc. It's really cool.

I would imagine an older pool will be more maintenance, but if it's new, chances are it's salt water. Our pool company said almost all the pools they put in today are salt water and they are much lower maintenance than chemical pools - and much better for your skin.

The addition of the pool and attached spa added about 200.00 per year to our homeowner's insurance. So no big deal for us.

It might be harder for us to sell our house, but we plan to be here a long time so we'll have enjoyed our backyard immensely before we have to face that challenge.

Good luck - it's a personal decision. We love having our pool but understand that there are people who wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole!

This poster is absolutely correct. We have a nine year old pool that is considered large and the maintenance and insurance are no big deal. I have always done all the maintenance on the pool, not my DH! I even do some of the opening and closing work myself to reduce the bill. I can't imagine paying someone to come every week or two in season to maintain my pool. Blech! Excessive and unnecessary.

I am from New England where we also had a pool. The D.C. area is the ideal place to have a pool! Our is open from mid-March to late November.

I have had several realtors tell me that a pool is not always a negative to selling a house, In some houses, it is expected. One realtor told me she loves to sell houses with pools, assuming they are good ones.

In terms of safety, it is good to to have redundancies in place. We have an auto cover as well as a fence with locked gates. But there is no substitute for vigilance, anywhere. Lifeguards DO NOT mean your child is safe. Ditto for life vests.

OP, a pool may still not be for you. However, do not let this silly talk of maintenance, insurance, length of season, or resale scare you off. It really is no big deal.