'Yall have a mess of swimming pools. (Huntsville: real estate, insurance)

[caution]

One of the things I've noticed in searching for a home before moving down there is the abundance of in-ground swimming pools.

I guess it's a combination of the heat and the lower cost of living that affords such luxury, but aren't they a real pain the butt?

I can remember growing up in GA we always hit up the neighbor's pool. So you've got kids beggin' to come over. Then you've got to keep that thing clean from all manner of pine needles, grass clippings and whatever else.

So here's my questions for HSV area pool owners.

- How bad does it jack up your home-owners policy cost?

- How much of your free time is spent thowing chemistry in there and fishing out junk?

- How long does the pump last? (like new one every 5-10 years?)

- Do you have a pool service company doing the hard stuff? If so how much does that run ya?

- Bottom line? Is it worth it?

[harry chickpea]

I had an in-ground pool in Florida, where it could supposedly be of use year 'round, so I've got a few years of knowledge about them.

First, you WILL spend an absolute minimum of $700/year on an in-ground pool. There is no way around it. If you cut back on chemicals, you have to run the pump more. If you cut back on pump use, your chemicals won't work.

Second, it will NEVER be as clean as you want. You'll find yourself spending time skimming off crud before every swim.

Third, it will rarely be the right temperature, unless you are willing to spend a couple thou for a heat pump and another few hundreed a year to run it.

Fourth, raccoons love to poo in pools. 'nuff said.

Fifth, they are an "attractive nuisance" and will require a minimum of 4' fencing and locking gates, and a slight increase in insurance premiums. Trust me, insurance will be the least of the costs.

Sixth, unless you really like to swim and have since a kid, to the point that you go to pools or rivers and lakes and the ocean to do so at least four times a year, you will get bored with the pool within three or four years.

Pumps can last ten years, but filter carts last less than a year (at $100 a pop) and settling can cause leaks, not only in the filter basket area, but in the pipes underground.

Pool services in FL ran about $60/mo, but that was only for the ongoing basics. You still needed to get out and clean before swimming unless it was in a screen house.

If you still want an in-ground pool, I have one word - Aqua-Jet. At a cost of over $700 and a lifespan of about four years, it was the only thing that kept me from going insane. It allowed me to run the main pool pump a minimum of time and kept the cool far cleaner on a lot less electricity.

[caution]

sounds good.

i'm really not wanting one, it's just that every single house we like (based on internet searches) has an in-ground pool.

i'm trying to steer clear of them, but my better half wants to check it out...

we'll know more next week when we come down and start house hunting

[mm42]

Originally Posted by caution

So here's my questions for HSV area pool owners.

- How bad does it jack up your home-owners policy cost?

I was surprised, it didn't change our insurance at all.

The biggest expense for us is the utility bills (electricity running the pump and Polaris.)

- How much of your free time is spent thowing chemistry in there and fishing out junk?

Chemistry - almost no time spent on this since we have a saltwater system.

Junk - The skimmer does some of the work, but basically ours needs fishing some stuff out with the net once a day. We also run our Polaris cleaner once or twice a week. We have trees and other vegetation close to the pool (overhanging in one case). We put a cover on in the winter or the pool would have more leaves than water. Some pools that are in a wide expanse of grass without trees nearby probably don't have to do this often.

- How long does the pump last? (like new one every 5-10 years?)

Have not had it long enough to find out.

- Do you have a pool service company doing the hard stuff? If so how much does that run ya?

We do not use a service.

- Bottom line? Is it worth it?

For us it is definitely worth it, we have 3 kids and all 5 of us use the pool every day (in the kids' case, most of the day) in summer. In fact, we are considering adding a heater this year so we can get more springtime use out of the pool. (Would also add fall time, but only a little for us, as the leaves would become a problem only shortly after the temperature.)

If you didn't think you would use it a lot, I would avoid a pool because it would not be worth the expense and trouble.

[Elizabeth_G]

We rarely use our pool..daughter is 15 and just isn't interested anymore. Ditto to above comment, no increase in homeowners, shock! It does jack up your electric bill, probably costs us 70.00 a month to run the pump continually. As for chemicals, easy! We have an automatic robot that keeps our pool clean, clean clean. We rarely have to fish things out. Also, haven't had any raccoons visit
We do pay a service to open the pool, $200 and to close it, $155. Overall, I would guess it does cost close to $1000 annually to own it. Our pump is almost 7 years old and still runs like a champ. We did need new filters this year and those cost nearly $200.
Next year, we will have to have some work done to the concrete around the pool from settling. Won't be cheap, is my guess.
We have plenty of subdivisions that offer community pools as well, if you decide to not buy with a private pool.
Is it worth it? I'd have to say no in our case. If we did have kids that enjoyed it, yes, it would be worth it, no doubt.

[zenjenn]

IMO, avoid owning a pool like the plague unless you have family members who are avid swimmers and will use it lots.

[VMH2507]

I'm with zenjenn -- most RE experts will tell you than a pool narrows your "pool" of buyers when you go to sell, because many people, as I, would not even look at a house with a pool.

[mm42]

Originally Posted by VMH2507

I'm with zenjenn -- most RE experts will tell you than a pool narrows your "pool" of buyers when you go to sell, because many people, as I, would not even look at a house with a pool.

It's not really as simple as that. It actually varies by market.

Imagine if 30% of houses have pools and 30% of buyers want pools. The balance is no different than for the opposite segment of the market where 70% do not have pools and 70% of buyers do not want pools. On the other hand, if 10% of homes have pools and 20% of buyers want pools, the pool houses come out ahead (and vice versa).

That same "conventional wisdom" for real estate says that a pool will not add much value and may even subtract value from a house, but again this is driven by market dynamics and expectations. I recently read an article on this subject and the value of a pool varies dramatically by region. In Phoenix, for instance, it added ~10% to home value, whereas in the midwest it was indeed of little or even negative value.

The average for the southeast was that pools added 6-7% to value, but this was averaging in the Florida market, and unfortunately they didn't break it out any finer than that.

I can tell you that in one neighborhood that we watched here when we were shopping, the houses with pools sold quickly and close to asking, whereas non-pool houses in the same neighborhood languished on the market.

There are a lot of market dynamics involved, particularly home price. In general, the cheaper the house, the less likely a pool will add value and the more likely it will negatively impact resale potential.



In the high-end Huntsville market, I wouldn't base a pool decision on resale concerns, but rather on whether you want a pool and are willing to deal with the upkeep. As the house price gets lower, I would definitely worry about resale potential. At the low end, much safer to buy a house with a neighborhood pool.

[mm42]

I found the WSJ article I was refering to:

Swimming Pools: Do They Increase Or Decrease a Home's Value? - WSJ.com

[caution]

thanks all.

we're by no means "high-end" buyers, and that's why I was shocked to see in-ground pools in the 200-250 range.

it's nice to see the pros and cons.

i keep reminding my better half that we're not that social and we don't have a bunch o' kids to lock out of the house in the summer -- and if we did, they could play with the hose like I did...

i'm not winning (shocker) so my plan is to just line up houses to look at both with and without a cement pond

i figure the biggest/best kitchen is going to win out over something with a pool, we'll see :-)