thoughts / costs of swimming pool (Indianapolis: real estate, houses, buying)

[nhkev]

any idea of the cost of a normal pool. such as a 34/18 ft rectangle normal cement surround. In Massachusetts it cost me about 50k to install a pool and everything around it. In florida the same pool only seems to run about 35k. In Florida it can be used year round. In Mass it can be used 5 months if using a pool heater for 2 of the months. When I have been looking at houses in The northern suburbs of Indianapolis, some have pools, some have community pools, and some have no pools. I have two young kids so pools are still used by the family. Are the late spring, summer and early fall worth having a pool in the area or is it a waste of money? Would a house with a pool be valued more than one without.

[rrah]

We have an inground pool. We installed it about 14 years ago so the price we paid would be irrelevant today. I would expect a cost similar to Mass.

When our kids were younger, we typically used it from late May through Sept/Ocotober. A few years we opened it up earlier. Once school started/before it was out, it became a waste to use it. Since the kids are grown, we open it up in June and close it right after Labor Day.

We heated it at the beginning/end of the season. During the summer months we never heated it.

We do live about 1.5 hours south of the Indy suburbs so our temps tend to be slightly warmer.

From my days as a real estate agent, I can say pools don't add a lot of value here--certainly not equivalent to the cost to install. I've seen some pretty large, fancy pools that only added about 10K in value. It's negligible, and many people don't want the costs.

[John7777]

Originally Posted by nhkev

any idea of the cost of a normal pool. such as a 34/18 ft rectangle normal cement surround. In Massachusetts it cost me about 50k to install a pool and everything around it. In florida the same pool only seems to run about 35k. In Florida it can be used year round. In Mass it can be used 5 months if using a pool heater for 2 of the months. When I have been looking at houses in The northern suburbs of Indianapolis, some have pools, some have community pools, and some have no pools. I have two young kids so pools are still used by the family. Are the late spring, summer and early fall worth having a pool in the area or is it a waste of money? Would a house with a pool be valued more than one without.

I think you'd have to me nuts to want to fool with a pool in Indiana. Arizona or California, yes. Indiana, no.

[Serious Conversation]

Without heating, about the most you'd get is Memorial Day (likely not) to a couple weeks after Labor Day. There are ample swimming facilities in the area that should be able to satisfy the need. I can't recall seeing any pools in the homes I've been in this year.

[MortonR]

People we sold our house to immediately installed an inground pool, a rectangle with a big pool deck and a solar cover. I'm betting they easily dropped $50k-$60k when it was all said and done.

I look at the property value and see that it's gone up little since this. I can't see it being a plus in this climate, not to mention the cost of opening/closing every year.

RM

[indy_317]

Pools in Indiana can be fun, but you will likely never get your money back. A relative has an in-ground pool and these will likely run you $50K. You will be lucky for it to add $10K to your home value. Another relative really wants a pool and is looking for homes with pools, but he is finding that there is a small group of people who are searching for the same thing. None of them want to shell out $50K for a pool, so there is some competition for these homes, but it won't run the price up all that much.

The best way to go is buy an above ground pool and build a nice deck around it. I know a few people who did this and you can end up with a really nice pool and party area.

[rrah]

Originally Posted by MortonR

People we sold our house to immediately installed an inground pool, a rectangle with a big pool deck and a solar cover. I'm betting they easily dropped $50k-$60k when it was all said and done.

I look at the property value and see that it's gone up little since this. I can't see it being a plus in this climate, not to mention the cost of opening/closing every year.

RM

The costs of opening and closing a pool are minimal relatively speaking--maybe $300 for both combined. They are actually the least expensive costs of a pool in Indiana. We spend at least $400/year on chemicals (buying them at Sam's Club and Walmart). I think our pool is about 45K gallons. Electricity to run the pump is pretty significant--at least $250/month. We when used a pool heater, we used at least 500 gallons of propane per season.