private pool vs community pool (Houston, Dallas: transplants, HOA fees, how much)

[Susyq25]

although i'm posting this under the houston link i know many of you, just like i do, read on all the cities so the question applies to houston, dallas, SA and austin.

my husband and i have different opinions on whether buying a house with a pool is better than living in a nice community with a public pool or vice versa.

he grew up in so. cal. in a home w/a pool and insists on this when we move to tx. I, on the other hand, think that a community pool is just fine, we don't have to pay to maintain it, will probably have to pay HOA fees anyway and the weather will not be like in so. cal. where he used the pool 6 months out of the yr.

what does everyone think? locals and recent "transplants" especially those from so.cal.

thanks

[BobTex]

I vote for the private pool........should be more sanitary and you can control the chemicals better.......most community pools over-amp the chlorine (they have to for obvious reasons).

Bob

[momof2dfw]

Private pool all the way. I've lived in two HOA neighborhoods w/ pools and I like my private pool better. For one we use it more because it is "right there". The kids can swim for a few minutes while I fix dinner or we grill out whereas if we did not have one in the backyard..... Then there is the all the "ugly" stuff that comes w/ visiting the community pool.

The first neigbhorhood pool we had was AWFUL!!! And I mean w/ kids and teens that did not know how to behave and parents that did not make them. My youngest was a baby and I would put her in the baby pool w/ her toys and some bigger kids would come get her stuff and throw it into the big pool . I would be in the big pool w/ my child hanging onto the edge while I was teaching her how to swim and these kids would run and jump right over us into the pool. Parents watching and all . Then the teens that thought it was funny to throw all of the furniture into the pool or worse. We even had a runaway living at the pool one time. We moved.

Second neighborhood pool and the HOA we currently reside in. This one is a MUCH nicer neighborhood and more "upscale". There is a clubhouse at the pool and I have rented that on many occassions for the kids birthday parties. I have only been at the pool once in 4 years because we have one in our backyard. And that was for a party. This one does not seem to have the issues of vandalism and thuggery that the other one did. But you still get the occassional contamination issues that I believe go along w/ all community pools. Therefore it is closed at times. This year it also did not open on time becaue they changed the filtration system and it had to go thru the cycles before the city would allow it to open.

Most HOA pools also are not open all year round. The typical is Memorial Day to Labor Day. Sorry but w/ a heated pool in Dallas we can almost swim year round. I just like having the pool right here in my backyard. When you do yardwork and your all hot and sticky you can jump in the pool and cool off. Although right now the pool water is right at 90 degrees . We use the pool more being right here too. Both of the neighborhood pools we have had are not close enough to walk to. Therefore it required packing and loading up the car just to go for a swim. And like I said, with it right here out the backdoor I can tell the kids to throw on their swimsuits and they have 15 minutes to swim before they have to shower and get ready for bed (and that is anytime of year if the weather permits). Even if I can't swim because I am busy doing something, the kids can (of course I am watching them). I still pay the dues for the pool but I just overlook it since I do use the clubhouse for events and it is free (well, sort of). And you would be surprised at the amount of time in a year you can use a pool in Texas. Like I said, ours is heated therefore if we have pretty sunny days in March, heat that baby a little bit and get in. And you can swim pretty much thru October. We don't need the heater in the summer but it sure makes it nice to be able to use the pool for a much longer time throughout the year if we have nice weather. A friend of ours has a much larger pool and it is a diving pool and hers is not heated and that baby is still cold the first of July.

[neddy]

Our backyard is to small for a pool and when we bought the house both of our boys were under 3 so I did not want a pool. We have a com. pool and its great during the summer May-Sept we have life guards so that really helps and usually its really slow so its just me and the boys friends most of the time. Open all year round with out guards Closed one day a week for cleaning which is a bummer. We have auto pumps for the cleaning systen so never been a problem for the hood there. Every once in awhile closed because something happened (mess type of problem) but not a big deal and at least I dont have to deal with a pool day to day in the backyard with small kids. Boys get older andwe move might get one in the backyard

[laguna1995]

Good question, I was curious about the same thing. We are in So. Cal. right now and we have about 20 commun. pools in our town and 2 water parks for the kids. They are pretty much all open all year (I have seen quite at few people in them around Christmas when it is so warm we all have to wear shorts). They are all very well maintained. If anything is ever seen "floating", they close them down, drain them, clean and then refill them.

I would love to have a private pool, but am a little scared to with the kids being so young still ( 3 1/2 and 5 mo.). I am hoping that the comm. pools in the new communities in TX are maintained like they are her. Then when the little ones get bigger we can look inti getting one in our own yard.

[Susyq25]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Private pool all the way.
Like I said, ours is heated therefore if we have pretty sunny days in March, heat that baby a little bit and get in. And you can swim pretty much thru October. We don't need the heater in the summer but it sure makes it nice to be able to use the pool for a much longer time throughout the year if we have nice weather. A friend of ours has a much larger pool and it is a diving pool and hers is not heated and that baby is still cold the first of July.

thanks momof2dfw

by the way how much does having a heated pool add to the price?

Originally Posted by neddy

Our backyard is to small for a pool and when we bought the house both of our boys were under 3 so I did not want a pool.

we have an 18 month old boy and it also scares me to have a pool, but those who have one reassure me that a gate is safe and when they grow up a little they'll really enjoy it.

thanks to all of you, my hubby get to say "i told you so" LOL

[momof2dfw]

Susyq,

When we bought our house in 2002 the pool was already here. It was put in back in 1999. A landscape architect built the house and pool so the backyard looks like a tropical paradise and I figured out he planted certain trees in certain spots to block all of the neighbors views into the backyard. But I did contact the pool company that put it in and got the info on the pool and cost. He did not skimp on pool equipment which is something I recommend also. Get the best and most reliable equipment you can afford. This helps keep your costs and repairs down. The cost for ours was around $25K w/ the pebbletech, heater, built-in spa, Aqualink system (which I LOVE!!!!!), decking, tied into the sprinkler system, etc. When you have your pool put in have the local gas company put in a larger meter!!!!!!!!! This was not done and we had to have it done and it is free. If not if you have gas for your cooking, heating, water heater, fireplace, etc and then add on the pool the meter is not large enough to handle the load. The only thing we have had go out was the switch plate for the heater and that part was around $30 bucks. Just find a VERY reliable pool company and repair company. My husband thought we might be needing a new pump this year when it was acting up and he told them that. They checked everything out and found it was just a very small inexpensive part that had warn out. They very easily could have said we needed a new pump knowing he already had it on his mind. They said even though ours is from 99 it is still in great shape. We do all of the cleaning ourselves and it is not that hard at all. As for the expense of heating the pool, we don't do it that often and it really does not add that much to our gas bill. Not enough to even notice really. But I think it is well worth it since we can take advantage of having a pool in our backyard more often than if it was not heated. Who wants to spend $25-30K for something you can only use 3-4 months out of they year? So the heater really helps there.

I totally understand your concerns w/ the pool and little ones. Ours were 3 and 7 when we moved in. My oldest could swim like a fish but my youngest up until last summer was not a very good swimmer. She still has a "healthy fear" of the water. We have also taught them to NOT go into the pool if someone else needs help but to stand there and SCREAM at the top of your lungs till help arrives. Even at our other house w/o a pool they knew not to go out into the backyard w/o an adult so that was easy. I did put the chain on the top of the backdoor. Most cities now have VERY STRINGENT codes for pools. Where we live you must have an alarm that goes off for 30 seconds if the backdoor is opened. Even though our alarm system monitors the doors and chirps when doors & windows are opened it does not go off for a full 30 seconds so they require an additional alarm. If your yard is set up and you put the pool in your yard in certain ways you can fence off the pool from the rest of the yard. I have seen several do this and one house we looked at did. That was my concern when we moved here but I like that I can see the pool from just about every room in this house that I could not in the other. Then the fences. The cities now want the horizontal cross members of wood fences on the inside of the yard and not facing out. They feel that someone can use it as a ladder and climb into your yard. We also have locks on our gates (always did even w/o a pool).

Good luck.

[Susyq25]

thanks momof2dfw

you're very helpful.

[TGM]

I had a pool as a kid growing up in Houston. We used it everyday for the 1st year, once a month for the 2nd year, and only used the spa after that.

How much you would like the subdivision pool depends greatly on the subdivision. If your price range is under $200,000 - You will find that the local pool is used as a "free babysitter". I am a cop, and we have many calls at the local pool and have our "regulars" were all the little brothers & sisters are dropped off at the pool so their parents can go out. There are some pools with great lifeguards - however remember that these guards are usually 16 years old, and as such, will handle emergencies and/or stressfull situations just like a 16 year old. Often they are too afraid to handle issues with bigger kids. The posts above describing out of control kids is completely true and an honest look at most of the subdivision pools I frequent.

Pools in subdivisions over 200-250k are usually very different and much more pleasant - however there are still the trouble makers, and you will now add the adults that will complain on your kids breaking the "peace and tranquality" of THIER pool.

If you said how old your kids are now I missed it - that would be a factor as well. Every year I respond to many terrible calls where children are found in a pool. It's kind of like having a gun in the house, no matter how good you hide it, they will find it. I recently made a call where the parents found their 3 year old and 6 year old at the bottom of the pool. The current belief is that the 3 year old fell in, and the 6 year old (who was a great swimmer) went in to save his brother. Neither survived. Most of these stories you will not hear on the news. Believe me, the news reports only about 5% of what goes on around here. Even if they hear about it, they won't put a news story on the air unless they can show some pictures and get some interviews.

If you have small children, I would think long and hard about it - and if you choose to do it spare no expense on every safety device you can get your hands on. Locking gate that can't be climbed, wave alarm, pool cover, etc.

[marksanders]

Suzy, I have had both and it really depends on your lifestyle. If you enjoy your privacy and like to have friends over for a gathering, then a private pool might be what you want. Your child might be too young to know the difference now between the two, and it will be several years before you all can have all his friends in the neighborhood come to your house (which has its advantages) so in reality it would be for you and your husband for now.
It is a real pain cleaning it all the time and depending on where you live, it could be everyday. If you pay for someone to do this it could get expensive. The community pool does have its advantages. First, it is cheaper. Then if you like to meet new people especially with children your son's age this is the best thing. I have a 2 year old now and this is what we choose. My daughter loves to play with other children she meets there.
You mentioned a heated pool. My friend has one and it is fun but it is expensive for the gas to keep the water at 80 degrees (the desirable temp) for an extended period of time. He got a $500 gas bill one month in the winter for a few days of keeping his pool warm in the outside. It might not be that bad in the early spring when normally would still be too early to swim. Hope this helps...