What would you find more desirable, pool or not?

[ihearyou2]

Make the assumption you live in a warm clime. What would you prefer for your backyard if you could only choose one. A pool or a garden/lawn area and why? From a neutral perspective what do you think would add more value?

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Garden/lawn.

IMHO there is far more satisfaction to keeping up a beautiful garden than a pool. A pool is a PITA to keep up.

[cronewitch]

Pools are trouble and expensive, homeowners insurance, extra fencing, chemicals and I would seldom use it. If I had kids it might be worse since I would have to make sure they didn't get to the pool without supervision making the back yard off limits to children. Friends of kids might want to use it too so I would have to protect them.

[bobosensei]

A pool is a PITA. My mom had an inground pool put in our back yard when I was 14. It makes your home the main place that all your kids friends will want to hang out. So in addition to the added expense of the pool and keeping it up you'll also have extra hosting expenses. Family members will often want to have parties at your home to use the pool. You have to think about the liability and if you want to take that on. Any time a young child comes over you have to make sure that they don't get to the pool. You'll spend a lot of time cleaning the pool even if you have a robot.

[Deleted]

We have a pool in this house and I had one in my house before this. DH is wonderful about maintaining it so I don't have to do much but swim in it. I don't think at affected the insurance premium, although I started buying an Umbrella policy when I bought the first house- I now carry $2 million on top of the normal liability coverage.

You will definitely find people who don't want to buy a house with a pool, but when you get the buyer who wants one they get very excited. When I sold the house in NJ in 2003, I had multiple bids. The wife of the couple who got it said she'd been praying that the deal with the highest bidders would fall through!

DH is 72 so if we move again I might not get a pool- but even in climates where we have cold winters, I've been happy with pool ownership.

[Deleted]

Everything I have read says a pool is mostly a liability when selling a house. In fact, it seems some buyers even have them filled in. But I would also think locale pays a big part. I imagine many of the really wealthy take a pool for granted.

I'd rather have the landscape although that can also be expensive and difficult to maintain.

Hmm. . . . maybe the REAL question is whether you would rather hire a pool guy or a yard guy?

[whoisjohngalt]

Whenever I see a pool, all I see is a huge sign that screams "LIABILITY" AND "EXPENSE". As much as I love water and swimming, to me, having a pool is too much hassle

Lena

[Deleted]

We lived in the greater Phoenix Area in AZ. The former owners of our house had the pool filled in and replaced it with an oversized spa and landscaped area. We thought (briefly!) about putting in a new pool but we're glad we didn't. Most of my friends don't use their pools but pay to keep them looking nice. We converted the house into a rental about a year ago so am doubly glad we didn't buy a house with a pool for both monthly maintenance costs as well as liability!

[The J]

If I had the money to pay for a pool service to do all the cleaning (preferably by hot chicks in bikinis, which might add an additional premium), or if I had teenagers (who I could force to do the cleaning), I'd like having a pool (assuming I owned a house, instead of living in a condo with a pool).

[Deleted]

J,

Unfortunately the reliable pool service for my friends is the "Pool Geezer".

Now if you don't mind your pool looking like the Black Lagoon and replacing it every 5 years...no problem!

[breezy]

I think a lap pool would be nice.

[Deleted]

My former boss has an indoor pool! I think that last job move of his was a lucrative one.

[thyme4change]

I have a pool and I love it. Our kids are little and we are in it pretty much every day from May - Sept. The kids will get in even earlier. I love having a people over in the summer and hanging out back there. I agree that once the kids get older I'll want to fill it in. My parents' pool is really just a hassle now.

[ChiTownVenture]

In CA and NV we had pools, they were both small free form pools surrounded by grass. You could walk in and get about chest deep. It was nice to cool off in the summer.

Here in Chicago we recently looked at a house that had a pool and both my wife and I said that we really liked the house we just wish it didn't have the pool.

I think small water features can add to a nice garden.

[so1970]

i have an in ground pool and love it . maintenance isn't bad once you figure it out. and anything you get that you enjoy will require some maintenance. for us it's worth it the kids, grandkids and our youthgroup from church keep it in use the whole time its open and it's safer for them than the local river.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Garden, I can always redo landscape if I don;t like the current set up. However it is much harder to get rid of a pool should I decide I don't want it plus they are a HUGE PITA to keep up.

We only have one child and ourselves, so unless we planned on inviting a ton of people over the pool would not get a ton of use even in the summer. DH's aunt has one and it mostly sits around unused except a few days a year by grandkids/nieces/nephews.

[HoneyBBQ]

We had a pool (and a yard) in Houston. Basically it's a MUST in Texas. If I lived in a climate that weren't completely disgustingly hot 8 months of the year, I would not want one (we do not have one now in MO).

If I had to pick between a yard or a pool I would pick a yard for the dogs/kids/garden.

[jkapp]

Dec 29, 2010 2:30:21 GMT -5 Cheesy FL-Vol said:

Garden/lawn.

IMHO there is far more satisfaction to keeping up a beautiful garden than a pool. A pool is a PITA to keep up.

I have to agree with this...a pool is such a pain to maintain. A nice garden with a shaded area to lounge in would work just as well to keep everyone cool in the summer. Plus the maintenance expense is only a fraction of what a pool would be.

But if you love swimming/playing in a pool and would use it a lot, then it may be worth it to you. My cousins put in a pool several years ago and have probably used it less than a dozen times. Their kids used it a lot the first year but now have moved on to other things. Now they have this monstrous pool in the backyard that costs them hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to maintain each year and they don't even use it that often. They spend more time next to the pool on the shaded patio - a lawn/garden should have been they way to go for them ;D

[Jake 48]

I vote for the garden with water features, best friend has a pool and his house is the local hangout for his family. He complains to me all the time how they freeload.

[phil5185]

In Phoenix, over a 40 yr period, I've seen the pool fad repeated several times. In a newer subdivision with many young families, everyone adds a pool at about the same yr (keep up with Jones?). Around 10 years later, most of those houses are for sale and the owners 'moved up' (to a new house w/o a pool).

And there were several 'fill ins' also - they can be shallow fish ponds w/ big rocks, bridges, and walkways - or they can be leveled, scraped, and returned to grass.

The added electric is roughly $80/m ie, $1000/yr - many empty nesters will tolerate that, plus the $1000/yr pool guy for a few yrs before they move of 'fill in'.

[zibazinski]

Depends on where you live. In the south, pool homes are desirable. What's the norm where you are?

[ihearyou2]

We have had a pool going on ten years in two different houses, the youngest is six and has learned how to swim. The rest of the gang barely swim so we were looking at filling it in and being done with it. We figure we spend about 1K a year on it and we already have a gardener so only start up costs will be incurred for the gardener. The bids to fill it in are about 5K so we would get a full ROI in about five years. My only concern as minor as it is was whether it would be less desirable but everyone here has pools so there isn't much uniqueness to it and it is MY house so priority goes to what we want.

[ysi]

I am curious about those lap pools showing on tv commercials. Does the "current" run all the time? Can you really draw a breath without inhaling the current? How many gallons of water to fill/how much per gallon does city charge? Do you water your lawns from it in order to keep refilling it with fresh water? Can you change out the water easily just like a bathtub? :-) Inquiring minds want to know. I personally would love to have one, inside a screen house, just off the patio, with a retractable roof.

[thyme4change]

I think that there is a motor of somesort that creates the current, and you would turn that off and on as needed. I've never investigated - but I can't imagine they would make that product without several speeds - one of which would be off.

I don't know how many gallons those pools take - but I drained my 20,000 gal pool and refilled it and I was charged about $100 for the extra water. But, I don't think you continually drain and refill those swim pools. It is probably like a hot tub, in which you keep it clean with chemicals and put a cover on it.

I think the name of those pools are "Endless Pools" - I bet they have a website.

[cpt3102]

There's a pump in a pool that makes the current. I do believe it turns off, and my grandfather drained the pool every year and refilled, in the spring, and through out the summer as necessary (depending on how much splashing was going on) No water bill though he had a well. My grandma cleaned and put the chemicals in the pool. They got rid of it once we all (grandkids) went to college... sad day. I love swimming and have been in the pool since 6 months old... I would definately go for a pool! but that's me =)

[Deleted]

The frugal choice is the garden, but if you have the money and want the luxury of having a pool, I say go for it. Its a lifestyle decision and you need to work out the budget for it.

[pushingit]

If you have kids, nothing beats having an above ground pool. They're cheap and can easily be removed when you're done with it. The entertainment value is priceless. We get a lot of use out of our pool for the money, even though we live in NY and only ahve it end of May - end of Aug.

[dancinmama]

We relocated to an area where temps are in the low 90s and above for most of the summer. Swimming pools are not uncommon at all. When we were house hunting I specifically told the realtor that we were looking for a single story with NO POOL. I don't want to do the maintenance or pay for the cost of it. I don't want the liability. I like the garden look better than concrete and water even though I have seen some pool scapes that are beautiful. There are a lot of trees in on our property and our neighbors' properties and the leaves blowing into the pool in the fall would be a huge problem. Although it is probably neutral here, most of the time a pool does not raise the value of the property.

[Nazgul Girl]

I want to get a house with a pool in southwestern Florida. We looked at one while we were down there last week, but unfortunately, the pool was the best part of the house. It would cost too much to fix up the house. We'll have to wait.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't buy a pool for all of the above reasons. I wouldn't have a pool because water here is EXPENSIVE & it evaporates at a fast rate (local lake can drop 7 ft per day because of the heat). Add that to the fact that our water is kind of caustic & there's just no way. I'd love to have a spa but it would cost an arm & a leg to fill it with filtered water.