House with pool in Houston (Mart: transfer, established neighborhood, to buy)

[HouseWife27]

Is it cheaper to buy a house with the pool or build a pool?

[PedroMartinez]

Cheaper by far to get an existing pool.

Having one built, which I did, means you take an immediate loss.

[katydogs1]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Cheaper by far to get an existing pool.

Having one built, which I did, means you take an immediate loss.

Yes, much cheaper to by an existing house with a pool. You almost never recoup the price of a pool unless you wait a long time to sell. A bonus is you don't have to live with your yard all torn up.

[ilikeme]

Buy one with an existing pool, just make sure they have kept the equipment maintained and the concrete is in good shape. Have a pool company inspect it.

[marksmu]

Building a pool costs between $40,000 and $200,000...depending on what you want. When you sell your house, it raises your value somewhere between 25% and 40% of what it cost to build the pool. So yes, it is an immediate loss.

WAY cheaper to buy a house with an existing pool. Most pool builders offer warranties that are transferable if you inquire about them....most people dont even ask.

[gwarnecke]

I'll echo the previous comments, and add the following.

When we were shopping for homes, the impression was that pools did add some value (like mark said, less than 50% of their replacement cost) as long as they are newer. Older pools (30+ years) didn't seem to add any value, when comparing similar homes with/without pools. Many people view them as a maintenance liability. But if you're looking in established neighborhoods and don't mind having to upgrade the pump or potentially replaster/retile sooner rather than later, you can effectively get an older pool for nearly nothing upfront.

[mikeyyc]

The only upside of building a pool after you move in is that you get exactly what you want, and don't have to deal with someone else's decisions and choices. I know that we would have never found "our" pool in an existing home.

[Hangster]

Swimming pools are like cars, they only depreciate and you take a big loss just as soon as you sign on the new build contract.

[diggity101]

the used car market is much stronger than the used pool market

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by diggity101

the used car market is much stronger than the used pool market

A completely accurate statement - unfortunately for those of us carrying a note for our pools.