Is having a pool worth it? (Phoenix: rental, buying a house, buying)

[sarahrose]

I'll put in my 2 cents here...Lived in AZ and MN, like MN born and raised...We have a pool here in MN and I would love nothing more than to remove it..we built it in 2005 after we got sick of our son swallowing the water in the lakes and getting sick. Maintenance is VERY spendy here...around 2500 just for 4 months...that includes opening and closing seasons. We have an Automatic pool cover, so the heat does stay in...IF everyone remembers to close it. our bills in the summer with the heating of the pool run about 200$ because we keep it at about 84 degrees....it's also rather large at 18x40. This summer I got in it 1 time....my son used it almost daily, but I still wish we didn't have it. In AZ, we had a small "puddle pool" that was about 15x20, and had a beautiful waterfall feature...we used that all the time because of the heat....it had no heater, and had an auto water filler on it...chemicals were easier and less expensive...I loved looking out of the window at night and seeing the beautiful pool all lit up, and it had a bridge with waterfall that my kid just loved to swim under and try to look through the wall of water from the waterfall. he AZ pool cost about 35K for everything, including the lanscaping.....In MN it was about 85K for the pool, and an additional 50K for the extensive landscaping we had to do, plus a fence, and the safety cover.
Is a pool worth it in AZ?? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! and worth every penny IMO.

[kdog]

Oh, on the maintenance issue, my pool is practically maintenance free. We have an automatic pool cover, popup cleaners, and chlorine generator. We don't need a robot vac with the popups. I do keep an eye on the chlorine level and add acid to balance the pH once a week. Once a month, I may brush some sand from the corners that the popups don't get. Otherwise, that's it. I realize that if you purchase a home with a pool, you probably won't get those amenities. But if you do have a choice, they really do make a big difference.

[KatrynS]

We wouldn't live here without one. We had a community pool in CO -- used it 1 or 2x a week. Most here are only open in the summer. Having one in your yard means we use it almost every day. We will be using it all year.

As to the electricity -- don't have to run it 24hrs/day -- 12 hr is about right for ours, less on days I've got the robot in (this years' $1K, lol), so I'd put electricity at half that quoted above. Last month our total SRP bill was $300, that's for a family of 5, home all the time (cook all the meals), 3000 sqft @ 79F, all electric (no gas), 8yo house, AND a large diving pool. Otherwise, I agree with the pp.

As to water, doesn't take much and overall we're saving quite a lot of water since swimming daily requires few showers/baths. It's easier to shampoo the kids' hair on the lawn with the garden hose after a swim than get them in a tub! LOL Home pools tend to have much lower Cl levels, too.

Beware the chlorine tabs -- drive up your CYA.

If you have kids or are an avid swimmer AND can afford it, only look at homes with a pool. It's much cheaper to buy with one than have one built later. If you have kids, keep in mind fencing, etc since that can get pricey if it's not already in.

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by observer53

A fireplace is absolutely free if you don't use it. A pool costs the same whether you use it or not. That's what makes it more of an extravagance.

It's hard to decide whether it will be worth it for you ahead of time. If you REALLY like a house, and it doesn't have a pool, that to me would not be a dealbreaker. But for someone else it might be.

Community pools will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. I drive by some in the summer that are not being used at all, but others can be as described. I think the issue boils down to whether you want to take on your own or not. I've had pools at two of the four houses I've lived in. Haven't had one for 25 years. Sometimes I'd like to go take a dip, but it's not worth the bother of 365 days a year maintenance. As you've already seen here, others feel differently.

These are the hidden costs of our city, same with ac, it cost more to cool than heat as well, especially when all electronics and appliances give off heat in your house. But, it all works out the same in the end because of cheap housing prices.

[Bob's Burgers]

I have a new pool since March 2010. It has a robot and is salt. I hire a pool man at $80 a month ($1000 a year). The electricity runs about $80 dollars a month ($1000 a year). Total cost about $2000 a year. If you do the pool itself you must buy chemicals and every three months or so clean 3 filters-2 small and 1 big one. I cleaned the big filter (DT with 8 filters inside) and it was a pain.

I love my pool and use it for relaxation and exercise.

[Miranda2]

I agree with Phoenix lady. Its not that hard to keep a pool clean! We have had one for decades and my husband says his quick weekly upkeep and cost of chlorine tabs and polaris parts are worth it.


I cant imagine living without a pool. But,like they say, let someone else take the hit and know that the previous owner spent 25k to put the pool in!
It's important to me because I use the pool for Excercise!! I dont need it for the eye candy, tanning, status symbol, kids, or whatever. I lost weight and kept in shape for over 15 years by doing deep water jogging and water aerobics. I cant say "its too hot to exercise." If Im stressed, I get in the pool.

[Snort]

While folks are on the subject, how about those small "endless pools"? Has anyone seen them and heard anything about costs?

[Ritchie_az]

I would say having access to a pool is worth it. I don't have a pool and don't think I could justify the cost to put one in the back yard, but we do have "free" access to a very, very nice community pool (only open in the summer) as part of our HOA. We didn't use it every day or even every week, but it was there when we wanted to take a swim.
Some cities have pools, some neighborhoods have pools, there's the YMCA, waterparks, etc. So if you don't have one in your yard or are having trouble justifying the cost to put one there, perhaps there are good alternatives, depending on where you live.
Just a thought.

[annie7]

Seriously, some great food for thought. I think the best one for me was, "if you love the house and it doesn't have a pool, don't let it be a deal breaker." If we don't buy a home with a pool, then a MUST for me would be a mountain in my back yard with trails. The guy who totally broke all the $ down to pennies...that was great. As far as chemicals, my husband works for a chemical company and is an industrial water treater and at one time had pools to treat. I think we'd be okay with the chemicals. On the other hand have you ever heard the the thing about the shoe makers kids always need shoes??? Oh well....As soon as we buy a home, I'm posting in huge letters so that everyone who has helped me knows I'm done with questions about home buying....!!!

[Beware_of_Dog]

I personally would never want the cost or upkeep of a pool unless I was fairly wealthy and money was just no concern at all. I do want to swim laps everyday, so a small oval backyard pool doesn't really work for me anyway.

Out of all your comments, I would believe the $2000 per year as being more realistic. A per year average should include the cost of the pool and the major repairs and upkeep that one has to have done after 5-10 yrs that the pool retailers usually underestimate, in both time and dollars. Remember that there is decking, motor, filters, pool gadgets, covers if wanted, etc., much more than electricity...... Account for everything over a 10 yr period and average and maybe you will be close to a monthly cost. I would still bet you will come up short of what it ends up really being, like anything else you try to guesstimate the cost of.

I much prefer living in a home community that has a much larger community pool which most people never use. I would gladly pay $100 a month HOA fees to be able to take a dip and swim laps when I want and never have to bother 1 minute with anything else like upkeep, cleaning, repairs, etc.

But like I said, if money is no object one can hire someone to do everything for you so you don't have to bother.