Is there a reason there are few personal pools around here? (Burke: for sale, real estate)

[Grsz11]

My wife and I have noticed, at least as far as we can tell, that few people have pools on their property, whether in- or above ground. We are used to many people having them in a less well-off area, and I think we assumed in a wealthy area such as this they would be at least as common. Is there a particular reason for this? Are they outrageously expensive around here? Zoning issues?

[airjay75]

Aren't there a ton of community pools around? Unlike previous places I've lived, it seems like this area has a lot of community pools where it's either apart of your HOA or it has a fee of some sort to join. I seem to remember some people on here posting about pools in certain communities having waiting lists.

Personally, I would never want my own pool. Just seems like it would be way too much money to maintain, but maybe it isn't as bad as I think it would be.

[mdcrim]

Almost every neighborhood that has a homeowners association has pools. So if the neighborhood has free pools, there is really no reason for an individual homeowner to incur the cost of one of their own.

[compuguy]

Originally Posted by mdcrim

Almost every neighborhood that has a homeowners association has pools. So if the neighborhood has free pools, there is really no reason for an individual homeowner to incur the cost of one of their own.

Depends on the HOA. In Burke Centre, you get a discounted membership for the pools.

[seiketsu]

Pools are a pain in the butt to maintain, and pool season isn't long enough around here to make it worth it. I grew up in an area where we could use our pool 8 months out of the year, and seeing how much time and money my dad had to put into it -- and the measures he had to go through to keep neighborhood kids out because of liability issues -- made me vow never to be responsible for a pool of my own.

I do wish I could have late night pool parties, though. My neighborhood pool, which is open Memorial Day to Labor Day, closes at 8. It doesn't get dark until 9 in the summer.

[Bigfoot424]

I live in a yard filled with Oak trees. No way I would want to maintain a pool in this neighborhood.

[Mnseca]

Originally Posted by Grsz11

My wife and I have noticed, at least as far as we can tell, that few people have pools on their property, whether in- or above ground. We are used to many people having them in a less well-off area, and I think we assumed in a wealthy area such as this they would be at least as common. Is there a particular reason for this? Are they outrageously expensive around here? Zoning issues?

Many people here just find them to be too much maintenance. We did. There is a community pool about 100 yards from our house, anyway. We had our personal pool removed because it was too much work and took up too much yard space. One contributing factor was the lack of pool companies. There are only a few, none of them seem to be any good, and they are all overpriced. It was difficult to get anyone to even clean it properly, much less do more extensive work on it without trying to up-sell and overcharge to where pool improvement costs began to rival the cost of a new home. Real estate agents in this area often say that a pool makes it harder to sell a home - it seems that in NoVa people just don't prefer the hassle of a pool.

[935dc]

Just as a pool may turn people away, there are also folks who are specifically looking for one so it works both ways. Our previous house had a pool. We sold it in ONE day and it had multiple offers. Main reason was all of the parties involved wanted pools but couldnt find properties with one for sale

Our current home also has a pool. When we were shopping around for our current home we only wanted homes WITH pools, or at least enough land to put one in. If a property already had a pool, that was a + for me in terms of time/$.

Yes, the season isnt very long and there are time, costs, safety, & maintentance considerations, so that may weigh heavily on some folks in NoVA. I have a pool company open and close it for the season (~350 each) and there is cost of chemicals, etc. I throw the robot in and it cleans the entire pool in 3 hours. Safety is probably the #1 concern, so obviously child safety fence is a MUST as well as other precautions. You dont let your young kids in a tub by themselves, so same goes with a pool. Its common sense really.

Our kids & friends love it during the summer and its fantastic for pool parties, bbqs & entertaining every weekend. We have a certified swim instructor come to our pool for private lessons as well so the kids are comfortable in the water by age 3-4. In our neighborhood two other homes have pools (price point is 1.25-2M+). The enjoyment our family gets out of the pool outweigh all else

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by seiketsu

I do wish I could have late night pool parties, though. My neighborhood pool, which is open Memorial Day to Labor Day, closes at 8. It doesn't get dark until 9 in the summer.

That is one thing that is great about the 15 pools in Reston. You can find a pool open between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for most of the summer.

[Fallout Zone]

It depends on what area you are talking about. In the older neighborhoods the houses didn't originally have pools and the lots are generally quite wooded. In the newer subdivisions (and some of the older non-HOA areas), there are community pools.