Ever Regret Getting (or NOT Getting) a Pool? (fit in, condo)

[Corvette Ministries]

My wife and I are developing our "wants" list for our move to FL next year and are considering whether or not we want a private pool. Our community here in NC has a small pool which we enjoy on occasion during season. But that's NC. In FL we could expect to use it a lot more often, specially if it's in our own back yard.

However, we have relatives in FL with pools and they hardly ever use it.

What was your experience when shopping for a home regarding a pool?
.

[ron e wheels]

In the pool almost every day. I do a lot of yard work so it is refreshing. My wife works mostly at home and we meet up in the pool. An hour before bed time is great also. We decided we would not buy a house without one. Our house is a little over 2000 ft and the lanai makes the house.


We have a service which takes care of our pool. At less than $100 a month, all I have to do is enjoy it. Energy costs go up in the winter keeping the pool at temp, we cover it at night.


I am in Collier County and there is plenty of homes available with a pool.
Bring your rubber ducky!!

[AXEL276]

I'm from NY, the wife and I just bought a house in SW Ft Myers in a community that has 2 pools. The wife was on the fence about the pool but as far as I was concerned it was a deal breaker. The first week we were in the house we had pool parties every night. It has become the focal point of the house and gatherings. As mentioned, nothing like a private midnight swim just before bed, or first thing in the morning. I would not buy a house in SW FL without one!

[gentlearts]

One thing I have noticed when we have visited some friends with pools in Florida, is when the lanai has a pool in it, there is very little space to do much else. If you want a pool, which I would, I would want it in a normal yard, not squeezed onto a condo lanai where I needed to practically walk sideways to get around it.

[wjj]

A pool was a must for us coming from the Chicago area. While a spa was a "nice to have" we now consider it to be a "must have". We are in the spa almost every night it is not raining or lightening.

Swimming during the last Super Bowl while my friends in Chicago were batlling 20 inches of snow brought everything into focus.

[PonceDeLeon]

Even if you personally don't want a pool or don't use it that much, you should still get one if you're in SW FL. No pool will kill resale value in this area. As you can see from comments above, a pool is very popular in this area. As for not enough room in the lanai area, I would still put it there, and just go with a smaller pool. You get the benefit of the lanai cage to keep out bugs and debris.

[joyceh]

We are in a pool home & many times I've thought it would be cheaper to not have one because we haven't used it as much as I thought we would but it sure is pretty to "sit by the pool" & have a couple cocktails! We know we would miss it if it was not there.......

[rikoshaprl]

If you can afford it, put in a spa at the same time as the pool. I find we get even more use out of the spa. You can use it just about all year long (the heater doesn't work if the air temperature is below 50 degrees). It is great as you age and get aches and pains. The waterfalls from the spa is attractive and drowns out any street noise. It heats much faster and cheaper than the pool. On the same note make the spa as big as you can fit in the space.

[beachbum5656]

We have a solar heated salt water pool and use it almost daily most of the year. When we were looking at houses we would not even look at one that didn't have a pool. It's not hard to take care of and we love it, no regrets.

[Samiamnh]

We had some high end lights installed to replace the original..... ads a lot to the atmosphere at night and well worth the $$