gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Jan 5, 2015 22:29:18 GMT -5
I would love to have a pool in the backyard to extend the pool season, which is only memorial day to labor day. But, we were also convinced it would be too much of a chore and risk, so bought in a neighborhood with a pool. It's still convenient, there are lifeguards and it only costs the HOA fee, which was comparable to neighborhoods without pools and cheaper than a membership at a private pool.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 5, 2015 23:10:08 GMT -5
Our house came with an in-ground swimming pool. I use it from April through October. The pool guy is $115 a month and he deals with the pool and the hot tub ... chemicals, cleaning, etc. He comes weekly. Both the pool pump and the hot tub add significant cost to our electric bill ... but we pay some of the highest per KwH rates in the country (Arizona's electricity rates are much lower) In the summer, we have 5 outdoor umbrellas strategically placed to shade about 1/2 the pool in the afternoon which helps keep the pool water pleasant (and I like to read in the shade) Our gates to our backyard are kept locked due to risk of burglars ~ the added bonus is that it means no one will easily "wander" into our backyard. In the summer, when I spend a lot of time in the pool, I get all wrinkly. (Is that a downside?) Not sure how your pool is heated but our in ground spa is natural gas. Our 30 day bill that covered Christmas and NYE in 2009 was close to $400.00 It costs a ton of money to keep a pool warm in the winter when the outside temps are in the high 30s!
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 6, 2015 0:16:02 GMT -5
So what's the plan Ratchets? Is this going to be a future rental or retirement home? If so, I strongly recommend looking at a single level home. You will thank me later.
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❤ mollymouser ❤
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Post by ❤ mollymouser ❤ on Jan 6, 2015 2:09:37 GMT -5
Our house came with an in-ground swimming pool. I use it from April through October. The pool guy is $115 a month and he deals with the pool and the hot tub ... chemicals, cleaning, etc. He comes weekly. Both the pool pump and the hot tub add significant cost to our electric bill ... but we pay some of the highest per KwH rates in the country (Arizona's electricity rates are much lower) In the summer, we have 5 outdoor umbrellas strategically placed to shade about 1/2 the pool in the afternoon which helps keep the pool water pleasant (and I like to read in the shade) Our gates to our backyard are kept locked due to risk of burglars ~ the added bonus is that it means no one will easily "wander" into our backyard. In the summer, when I spend a lot of time in the pool, I get all wrinkly. (Is that a downside?) Not sure how your pool is heated but our in ground spa is natural gas. Our 30 day bill that covered Christmas and NYE in 2009 was close to $400.00 It costs a ton of money to keep a pool warm in the winter when the outside temps are in the high 30s! Our pool isn't heated ~ I'm just a polar bear who gets in it from April - October. The pool pump is electric. The hot tub is electric. We've seen monthly power bills (in the past, before we changed our lifestyle) above $1,000. (OK, just once... but still! We've also seen $600- $700 ... if we do something foolish and reckless and use our air conditioning too much)
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 6, 2015 13:08:39 GMT -5
I don't know Bonny, because the future is so uncertain. It could become a future rental home, which is s an argument against a pool. I don't want to have a rental with a pool. The certain thing is that I will retire here. Not necessarily forever in this area, but will have to retire in two years so the military won't move us anymore is what I mean - they will pay for the retirement move but I won't get stationed anywhere else. Does that make sense? The uncertainty is where we will go. My wife finished her teaching degree, and she's pretty hot to have a career. So if she gets a teaching job here, maybe we'll stay. But a DoDS job overseas would pay much better. More complications are that I'm sick of moving. This is our 8th move in 21 years so im ready to find somewhere we like and stay there. It really kind of dictates your lifestyle too, in putting down roots. As an example, I've always liked muscle cars and finally bought a 70 mustang when we were in Oklahoma. Three months later we got orders to move overseas so my dad agreed to store it in his barn for the two years. We went to England from there, and I knew he didn't want to store it three more years so sold it, and took a $3k loss. All that trouble just to drive the car for a short time. Actually, the truck we are driving now we used to own, and Angie's grandmother kept it in her garage but then wanted the space back so we sold it to my parents for like half of its value to get it out of her hair. They gave it back to us for free so we would have a vehicle, which is great - but those are just examples of moving frustrations. Oh I understand. We've moved 5x over 25 years for DH's work. He's a military brat and actually likes to move. In contrast I lived in the same house in San Diego for 25 years. It's been a bit of an adjustment for both of us.
After the 3rd move, given what a bright bulb I am, I realized that there is no such thing as a "forever house".
When we bought our AZ house in 2003 I figured there would be one more move and sure enough there was. DH's employer decided to pack it up and contract operations back to Germany which is why we did DH's "Sunset Tour" there. Because I thought we might have to rent out that house for a while I looked for a lower maintenance house that wouldn't be too hard for a renter to take care of.
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Sunnyday
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Post by Sunnyday on Jan 6, 2015 14:43:40 GMT -5
I just can't get over how cheap that house is!! The only thing you could get for that price here is a crappy one-bedroom condo.
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Jan 6, 2015 15:34:40 GMT -5
I put a pool in 2 summers ago - I LOVE it. I pay $75 a month for a pool service, but that is because as a single parent I just found myself needing to outsource that job. if I didn't have 1000 other things to do inside the house, I could do the job myself. My electric bill went up about $40 month associated with the motors on the pool. I don't have a heater on the pool. I live in Nor Cal, so think 105 on August days - the pool gets to about 82 degrees and it feels lovely. We swim from may - October easily and my house IS the place to be for DS and his friends. my DS is shy, so he likes having folks come to his house rather than going to their places. We have hosted a couple baseball team parties already - the first unexpectedly 1 day after the pool passed inspection (other pool location had a filter go out and the pool popped green overnight!) I had no increase in homeowners premium associated with the pool (USAA policy).
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 6, 2015 16:02:52 GMT -5
I put a pool in 2 summers ago - I LOVE it. I pay $75 a month for a pool service, but that is because as a single parent I just found myself needing to outsource that job. if I didn't have 1000 other things to do inside the house, I could do the job myself. My electric bill went up about $40 month associated with the motors on the pool. I don't have a heater on the pool. I live in Nor Cal, so think 105 on August days - the pool gets to about 82 degrees and it feels lovely. We swim from may - October easily and my house IS the place to be for DS and his friends. my DS is shy, so he likes having folks come to his house rather than going to their places. We have hosted a couple baseball team parties already - the first unexpectedly 1 day after the pool passed inspection (other pool location had a filter go out and the pool popped green overnight!) I had no increase in homeowners premium associated with the pool (USAA policy). Do you carry an umbrella policy as well?
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Jan 6, 2015 16:06:12 GMT -5
yes I do Bonny - $1 million was less than $200 a year in premium.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 6, 2015 16:15:41 GMT -5
yes I do Bonny - $1 million was less than $200 a year in premium. Good although with the pool I'd probably want a higher limit.
I'm sure you heard all the scary (and tasteless) stories while you were in law school about how if you found someone floating in your pool you wanted to stab them to make they were dead. The cost of an accidental death was much cheaper than keeping someone on life support.
Although I was on the high school swim team I was never keen on having a pool of my own. Some of that is that I was just cheap and didn't want to pay for the up keep and care. But living in the greater Phoenix area with the nearly weekly drowning stats was a real eye opener. I never remember hearing about that growing up in San Diego and the population then was about the same as Phoenix's now.
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Jan 6, 2015 16:51:23 GMT -5
I grew up with a pool and lived in it all summer. I am ready for warm weather so I can get some laps in!
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Jan 6, 2015 16:53:35 GMT -5
I'd think that the upside of being able to pee in the pool would outweigh any downsides.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2015 21:27:00 GMT -5
Not sure if the following is the kind of downsides to pool owning to refer to, but-
If you or anyone in your family suffer with asthma or most other upper respiratory ailments, the chlorine may wreak havoc on them.
Too. If there are any arthritic sufferers in the family- The chlorine can cause deep bone aches.
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wonderland
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Post by wonderland on Jan 6, 2015 22:46:47 GMT -5
My parents have an in ground pool. That sucker is expensive to maintain. Seems like every few years the pump breaks or a jet needs replaced or something major happens ( the pool is 15 years old). And I'm terrified that someday they are going to come home to a dead child in the pool, since they can't be bothered to build a fence.
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Jan 7, 2015 14:57:51 GMT -5
@heart2heart - my pool uses UV filtration. It produces trace chlorine, but its not like adding chlorine to the water
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2015 23:43:38 GMT -5
One interesting event we had occurred after we'd put the winter cover on our pool. A deer came through the back fence. I was at work and DS called me because the police had arrived. This was the pool in NJ with the flimsy plastic cover.
They chased the deer out of the yard. I shudder to think what would have happened if it had landed on the cover and fallen into the water.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 8, 2015 16:19:46 GMT -5
So jealous of that price! I can still dimly remember seeing California home prices for the first time and thinking anyone foolish enough to pay them was the biggest sucker on God's green earth. Now I consider my $460k house (according to Zillow) a friggin bargain. Holy shit, my house has appreciated $180k in 4.5 years. I could remortgage it and buy a whole other house in a sane part of the country outright... hmm... Phil, which banks will do cash out refinances for property investment? I know you know. Hook a brother up. I know I'm going out on a limb here but I don't think you're going to find a lender who will give you a cash-out refi.
You would have to qualify for both loans on your current income. And being self-employed probably means 3 years of tax returns.
But hey, you could do what my folks did and get private money. But prepare your oldest about needing to drive a cashier's check to the Trustee's place of business to keep the family home from being auctioned off at the courthouse steps the month before she enters college!
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 8, 2015 16:28:01 GMT -5
Probably doesn't matter anyway. The thought of having nearly half a million in debt freaks me out. We're down to $901k from $1.275M
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