Owning a house with a pool is a great choice if you’re looking at spending more time at home in the summer and are happy to entertain in your backyard rather than going to a public pool or beach.
The question is should I buy a home with a pool or is it not worth my time and money?
A swimming pool can be a great addition to your home if it gets used frequently enough but it’s an expensive option to maintain and repair and likely won’t add much to its resale value and may lower resale appeal. In that regard, a pool needs to be used frequently to be valuable to the owner.
Is it smart to buy a home with a pool or should you give it a miss from a usage, cost and house resale perspective?
Let’s take a closer look!
Should I buy a home with a pool?
You can buy a home with a swimming pool for a number of reasons but the main one has to be that you’re planning to actually use it. While some features can add value to a home, a swimming pool is likely to only increase the value of your home by a fraction of what it costs to install.
With that in mind, here are a series of thoughts and considerations before you buy a home with a pool.
You’ll need a separate home inspector for your pool and related equipment
The average home inspector isn’t qualified or experienced to inspect a pool and related pool equipment.
From personal experience, when my wife and I bought a resale home with a pool, our home inspector told us flat out that his inspection didn’t cover the pool in any way. We checked out the pool ourselves to look for obvious problems and as we felt comfortable with the home and pool in totality, we didn’t hire anyone to inspect it.
When we sold our home 8 years later, the buyers did hire a home inspector who checked out the pool and equipment to be safe.
A separate home inspector to specifically inspect your pool and equipment might cost an additional $100 – $130 but can be money well spent before you purchase a home with a pool that may have damage and parts in need of immediate replacement.
A pool takes regular work to maintain it
For most pool owners you’re probably looking at perhaps 1 hour per week of cleaning but it is something to keep in mind. You also have to empty skimmers and pump baskets to clear out debris and take care of your pool filter by either back washing or rinsing filter cartridges depending on what you have.
While you can now purchase a pool that is built with a self cleaning option on the bottom of the pool floor, the majority of pools have to be manually skimmed and vacuumed regularly. You can also buy auto vacuum cleaners to decrease the actually work.
You also have to work to maintain water chemistry and keep chemicals within range so that the pool is safe and clean for swimming. When an algae bloom strikes (see pic below) it costs time and money to cure that too.
A season of chlorine will probably be in the the range of $300 – $800 give or take. A quality salt chlorination costs upwards to $2,000 to install but actual salt costs each season are $20 – $50.
Pools cost money in upkeep and repairs
Other than the cost of chemicals, pools do cost money to fix and repair. A pool pump will need to be replaced every few years. That’s $300 give or take and more for a higher end dual or variable speed pump.
A salt water pool has a chlorination system that has a salt cell that is typically good for 3 – 5 years before replacement is required. A new chlorinator system can be around $1,200 – $2,000 installed.
A pool with a vinyl liner will last for 10+ years before the pool needs to be completely drained and having the liner replaced. A new liner can range from around $2,000 – $7,000 or more.
Each part of the pool that needs replacement comes with a cost of its own that you the pool owner will be responsible for.
Upkeep costs for a pool are very dependent on what style of pool you have. Any type of pool will eventually require a new pump for $300 or more depending on the model. A new chlorinator cell for a salt water pool runs $300 – $700 every 3 – 5 pool seasons to replace. A new pool liner might cost $4,500 on average but you won’t need that until after 10 years or more.
Home insurance will likely increase
While the addition of a pool may only add $50 – $75 to the cost of your home insurance policy, there are other costs to consider such as proper fencing and gates to prevent a child from wandering near the pool and falling in that come with a cost. You will want to ensure you have enough liability insurance coverage so check with your insurer to see what they recommend.
A pool creates extra liability and your home insurer will want to know that you have one. Because your insurer is exposed to extra liability, it’s likely that your home insurance will go up at least slightly and you will probably want to increase your liability coverage too.
You also need to ensure you meet local laws and regulations regarding fencing to ensure that the pool isn’t accidentally accessed by children including your own if applicable.
A pool can affect resale both positively or negatively
When you buy a house with a pool, you are immediately shrinking the potential resale market when you decide to sell your home because not everyone wants a swimming pool. People who don’t want a pool won’t even consider your home so you need to keep that in mind.
Having said that, for people who do want a home with a pool, a lack of demand for homes of your type with a pool can have a positive impact when it comes to put your home on the market.
And in some geographic areas with very hot summers, a pool can often be a must-have or at least an option that home buyers are more likely to expect which can increase the appeal.
Summary
Is it smart to buy a house with a pool? Maybe you’re a pool owner type of person maybe you’re not. It’s an individual choice at the end of the day and if you make good use of it, a swimming pool can be a great idea.
While pool ownership can be fun, it can also be costly and time consuming. It really depends on how much you end up using it. These days with COVID and social distancing, it could be used much more than in the past.
If you’d prefer to stay at home and use your own pool privately rather than going to a public pool or beach, a backyard pool can be money, effort and time well spent.
If you tire of your swimming pool and want to get rid of it to reclaim your backyard, the cost to fill in a pool
can be as high as $5,000 in some areas so it’s not cheap. An additional concern is that a buried pool will likely have to be legally disclosed when you sell the home which may negatively impact its value.
As a long time salt water pool owner I’ve written extensively on the issues and concerns regarding the subject on my website Salt Water Pool Report in case you’d like more details.