We're thinking of having a pool built. I'm interested in all opinions! Don't like yours? Love it? It breaks all the time? Definitely worth it for the kids? A little research suggests that our zip code returns 95% of the cost of the build at the time of sale. RE agents/brokers, does that seem legitimate? Thanks!
residential pools
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Last: 1 mo ago by rlb28
Not a realtor, but 95% sounds way too high for me.
Putting in a pool is a horrible investment, but I've put in two and don't regret it. If you have young kids, it's great. However, they will grow up and stop using it. I would go with the heater and hot tub option. More expensive but you can use it year round.
Putting in a pool is a horrible investment, but I've put in two and don't regret it. If you have young kids, it's great. However, they will grow up and stop using it. I would go with the heater and hot tub option. More expensive but you can use it year round.
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Before Covid, in Houston, I would say that homes with pools generally sold at a discount to those without them. When Covid hit, and everyone was stuck at home in the spring/summer of 2020, homes with pools were like gold. Post Covid, I would definitely say that there is value to having one, but I also would say it's nowhere near 95%. In general, in Houston. Maybe 50%? But it's definitely submarket specific and like the poster above said, life is more than about financial returns. You only live once and we don't get do-overs.
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Had mine for 20 years.
We still use it pretty much every weekend from May-September. Gathering spot for the extended family.
And the rest of the year, we'll sit outside and just enjoy the view.
But it's definitely a money sink.
We still use it pretty much every weekend from May-September. Gathering spot for the extended family.
And the rest of the year, we'll sit outside and just enjoy the view.
But it's definitely a money sink.
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I have a pool...we love it. COVID caused some confusion regarding the value of pools, but it has calmed down at this point. You will get some return, yes. No, not 95% of your cost to build. Build the pool for you, your family, and the memories you will create. THAT is the investment. It's not a financial investment. Best of luck!
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That makes sense. The comps and data we were presented with/without pools was a few years back.
Don't do it if you have kids/ grandkids under about 5yo. Leading cause of accidental death for children 4 and younger. Majority of those kids had parents that rationalized why it wouldn't happen to them.
CS78 said:
Don't do it if you have kids/ grandkids under about 5yo. Leading cause of accidental death for children 4 and younger. Majority of those kids had parents that rationalized why it wouldn't happen to them.
Build in security fences and water alarms
As well as alarms for house doors to pool access(mist city codes require (alarms). This can be managed.
I don't disagree that they're very dangerous for young children that can't swim and serious precautions should be taken.Quote:
Don't do it if you have kids/ grandkids under about 5yo. Leading cause of accidental death for children 4 and younger. Majority of those kids had parents that rationalized why it wouldn't happen to them.
However...we moved into a home with a pool when our young kids wers still learning to swim. Prior to then, we had taken them to swimming lessons for a while and they were learning/progressing normally. But after we moved into the new home with pool and we were in the pool with them non stop (covid), they learned how to swim exponentially faster (and the pool thus became much safer for them). We also purchased a "catch a kid" net when we moved in, which we left on the pool at all times unless we were swimming with them. That would have prevented any accidents. But after being in the house for a short time and our kids started swimming really well, we stopped using the net.
So just saying that there are some potential safety pluses too. We felt much more confirmatble with our kids around water much faster than we woudl have without the pool.
It is a constant PITA from October - March when not using it. At least mine is with 5 trees around my fence line (none are on my property that I can trim). If there weren't ten tons of leaves I might like it.
Pulled the trigger on one this year. Stupid decision in some ways, hopefully will be worth it in other ways. Hot tub / spa was required to increase utilization throughout the year.
If you have enough money to put a pool in, I'd assume you have enough money to pay for maintenance. IMO, it's not very stressful to own a pool if there is someone watching it for you. Our kids use it a ridiculous amount when it's warm outside.
Depending on location, consider a heater or chiller. If in Texas with heat, I would add a chiller to cool the pool for summer swimming.
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Know & accept this 1st:
By the time you factor in the cost of construction/installation & maintenance/upkeep, you'll NEVER make money on a pool when you sell your home.
Once you've done the above, the next question I would consider is, how often you would use it compared to the time/money required to keep it in working order (chemical levels, water evaporation/refill, electricity usage for vaccuum/pool pump/ accessories, manual skimming of debri & regular brushing of dirt that settles in areas vaccuum has trouble hitting like stairs, radius, etc., wall brushing for water line film & dirt that clings to the walls, repairs of various parts that will break down over time due to exposure to chemicals).
Do you have a community pool that would suffice?
For our family, the pool (& child safety fence) was existing when we purchased the home. But that required a thorough inventory of what repairs needed to be done, etc. We have two kids so we swim alot. Sometimes we will still go to the clubhouse pool for socializing.
It's still a constant battle to keep it clean, keep the skimmers emptied, the vaccuum bag empty, etc. I've spent money to remove a few pine trees that were near the pool to reduce the amount of debris dropped into the pool during spring/fall. I've replaced vaccuum & hose pieces numerous times, pool pump motors, etc.
If you decide to move forward with the install you should also budget for a safety fence around perimeter and/or a safety cover. I would recommend spending the money to upgrade the safety cover to a leaf cover for the off season to cut down on cleaning required.
Also consider landscaping/vegetation that will be installed near the pool. Palm trees are popular but "require" annual trimming to prevent germination debri from falling into pool and clogging pump. Sago palms require pruning and will catch pine needles in a way that seem to only be removable by hand.
Hope this helps.
By the time you factor in the cost of construction/installation & maintenance/upkeep, you'll NEVER make money on a pool when you sell your home.
Once you've done the above, the next question I would consider is, how often you would use it compared to the time/money required to keep it in working order (chemical levels, water evaporation/refill, electricity usage for vaccuum/pool pump/ accessories, manual skimming of debri & regular brushing of dirt that settles in areas vaccuum has trouble hitting like stairs, radius, etc., wall brushing for water line film & dirt that clings to the walls, repairs of various parts that will break down over time due to exposure to chemicals).
Do you have a community pool that would suffice?
For our family, the pool (& child safety fence) was existing when we purchased the home. But that required a thorough inventory of what repairs needed to be done, etc. We have two kids so we swim alot. Sometimes we will still go to the clubhouse pool for socializing.
It's still a constant battle to keep it clean, keep the skimmers emptied, the vaccuum bag empty, etc. I've spent money to remove a few pine trees that were near the pool to reduce the amount of debris dropped into the pool during spring/fall. I've replaced vaccuum & hose pieces numerous times, pool pump motors, etc.
If you decide to move forward with the install you should also budget for a safety fence around perimeter and/or a safety cover. I would recommend spending the money to upgrade the safety cover to a leaf cover for the off season to cut down on cleaning required.
Also consider landscaping/vegetation that will be installed near the pool. Palm trees are popular but "require" annual trimming to prevent germination debri from falling into pool and clogging pump. Sago palms require pruning and will catch pine needles in a way that seem to only be removable by hand.
Hope this helps.
Thanks & Gig 'Em
Only people that made money on a pool were those who built during covid in already highly desirable neighborhoods and then sold their home during the craziness as well.
Have a buddy in Lakeway that built a pool that overlooks lake travis. No crap his home value immediately increased greater than the cost of the pool - thats a resort level experience.
Installing a pool in the 3rd ring of the burbs in Houston is different.
Have a buddy in Lakeway that built a pool that overlooks lake travis. No crap his home value immediately increased greater than the cost of the pool - thats a resort level experience.
Installing a pool in the 3rd ring of the burbs in Houston is different.
Do any home improvement projects have a positive return on investment? Why is this such a big deal on pools when a kitchen remodel costs more than the value it adds to your house?
I always wondered the same when it comes to pools. There are very very few things that you buy that you can sell for a profit.Captain Winky said:
Do any home improvement projects have a positive return on investment? Why is this such a big deal on pools when a kitchen remodel costs more than the value it adds to your house?
We have a pool and maintenance is a breeze bc very few trees. I have a robot that runs once a week. Put in chlorine tabs once every 2 week. Spend about 30 min a month doing it myself. That is it for maintenance. If I had a bunch of leaves it would change the mathematics greatly.
Kids used the pool often when young, rarely now. We rarely use the pool, maybe 15 dys total a year. But given the low maintenance, no regrets at all. Well worth the view as our pool background is all greenbelt. Probably cost me 1k/yr for chemicals, water, and any maintenance.
If you want a pool, best thing to do value-wise is to buy a house with a pool. You definitely won't get 95% of it back.
That being said, having a pool is the best, and if my only option was to put one in rather than buying a new house, I would do it.
That being said, having a pool is the best, and if my only option was to put one in rather than buying a new house, I would do it.
Seems like they're almost free when you buy with a pool.
Bought a new house in The Woodlands in 2004. Put in a pool in the first year. Our kids were young and we got good use out of it for a few years. After the kids got cars and started driving, the pool use went down - plus everyone in The Woodlands has a pool, so anywhere the kids went, there was a pool. 16 years later we spent almost as much as we did having it installed in 2004 to have the pool replastered and completely refurbished. So as you might guess, this has not been a good investment from a money perspective. I still love having the pool in the summer, so not sorry we did it.
What are people's thoughts on pool depth when it comes to kids?
We found a home we like that has a pool - but it looks like at its deepest it's probably only 5-6 feet. We both grew up with pools with slides and diving boards and trying to decide if this is a dealbreaker. I don't need to cannon ball into the pool (or go down a slide in which an adult is already halfway down it by the time they push of), but we have concerns this would turn an otherwise "kid friendly" pool into a bore where they want to go to other pools instead.
We found a home we like that has a pool - but it looks like at its deepest it's probably only 5-6 feet. We both grew up with pools with slides and diving boards and trying to decide if this is a dealbreaker. I don't need to cannon ball into the pool (or go down a slide in which an adult is already halfway down it by the time they push of), but we have concerns this would turn an otherwise "kid friendly" pool into a bore where they want to go to other pools instead.
I'd think that's the norm for most newer pools.
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I don't own a pool but I've been told insurance companies will make you remove diving boards and the like as they are hazardous. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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Red Pear Realty said:
I don't own a pool but I've been told insurance companies will make you remove diving boards and the like as they are hazardous. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I have a diving board and no insurance company has ever asked about it.
I think this is just an old wives' tale, or at least it used to be a thing. I have never had an insurance company ask me anything about my pools.
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Dive on!
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From what I've read, it seems to be something that comes into play in new home/pool builds.
Back to my original question though -- do those of you with kids that don't have a diveable/jumpable pool ever regret it with kids? For my wife and I it's fine, just thinking long-term and if it's going to wind up being a situation where instead of kids coming over to swim we are always taking them elsewhere to swim.
Back to my original question though -- do those of you with kids that don't have a diveable/jumpable pool ever regret it with kids? For my wife and I it's fine, just thinking long-term and if it's going to wind up being a situation where instead of kids coming over to swim we are always taking them elsewhere to swim.
You can definitely jump into a six foot pool. You'll be fine. Deep ends haven't been popular in a while.
We have a pool with a 5' max and it's never been a problem for us. However, the newness of the pool does wear off and there's always an appeal to someone else's pool.
Captain Winky said:
I think this is just an old wives' tale, or at least it used to be a thing. I have never had an insurance company ask me anything about my pools.
I just renewed homeowners on 3/31 and had to declare no diving board on the property.
I just went back and looked and I had to acknowledge I understood there is no coverage for any damage/ injury/ etc wrt a diving board. Same with trampoline. And they did ask if I had one.
Deepest part of our pool is 5', and I can jump off our 2' wall no issue.
Nobody is "diving" in, but the kids jump off the wall every time we're in there.
Nobody is "diving" in, but the kids jump off the wall every time we're in there.
My advice if you build is don't go too big or too deep. When we built ours twenty years ago, we had three 11 and under and for that diving issue we went to 7.5 feet in the deep end, and the pool ended up being about 28,000 gallons. What we discovered over the years, with our kids and our 7 (so far) grands, is that 99% of the time is spent in the shallow end and the spa. So, in effect we are treating all this extra volume of water with no benefit. If I were going to build again, it would be about half the size. Maybe a sports type pool with the deeper portion in the middle at about 5.5 - 6 feet. I would probably spend the money saved by limiting the size to more water features or landscaping to make it more resort style.Proposition Joe said:
What are people's thoughts on pool depth when it comes to kids?
We found a home we like that has a pool - but it looks like at its deepest it's probably only 5-6 feet. We both grew up with pools with slides and diving boards and trying to decide if this is a dealbreaker. I don't need to cannon ball into the pool (or go down a slide in which an adult is already halfway down it by the time they push of), but we have concerns this would turn an otherwise "kid friendly" pool into a bore where they want to go to other pools instead.
Captain Winky said:
Do any home improvement projects have a positive return on investment? Why is this such a big deal on pools when a kitchen remodel costs more than the value it adds to your house?
Everybody wants a nice kitchen. Not everyone wants a pool.
Not trying to be negative, but we never use ours and I frequently think about having it filled in.