I am a first time homebuyer, and fell in love with a house I saw the other day, but it has an inground pool. I am a swimmer, so I would love to have it for my own use... but I am worried about the time and cost for maintenance....

Does anyone have any experience dealing with inground pools?

Thanks for your help!

as an appraiser I could bash them - as far as being pretty much unsafe and not adding anything to the value of a property ...

however - my mom who is pushing 80 has one - so I see an interesting value in Ingound pools ... My mom loves it . She rarely complains about it ... I noticed in the past 5 yrs or so she has some other people maintaining it (pool company) alittle bit ... but in general ... she still loves it .

I will say there is alot of $$$ in pool chemicals, broken pumps, new covers, new liner.... etc ... but I am trying to stay positive - because ... to be honest ... my mom does like it . I also think she likes the fact that people "come over" just to swim and see her ... etc ... so it is like a social outlet for her ....

To me - alot of the work ...associated with a pool ... is fun work ... outside work ... etc ....

We don't have an inground. We're getting an aboveground installed later this summer (a more permanent one to replace the one we have now, whcih we've discovered we use ALL THE TIME) but my mother in law has one at her house in FL. I believe she pays someone $100 (or so she says ) a month to come and do the upkeep. Not sure on what the electric is for it. OK that's all I got.

My neighbors have one. I could ask them.

[Edited 6/30/11 7:53am]

I really like the idea of being able to swim whenever I want... especially since it has been a VERY hot summer here so far... and I think I can get a pretty good deal on the house... so I'm hoping that will balance out the cost of keeping up the pool.

I would be curious about the electric cost tho.

I would kill for one of these...

shiloh66 said:

I really like the idea of being able to swim whenever I want... especially since it has been a VERY hot summer here so far... and I think I can get a pretty good deal on the house... so I'm hoping that will balance out the cost of keeping up the pool.

I would be curious about the electric cost tho.

Would you maybe be able to get any roundabout ideas by calling the electric company?

And not the tv show, before someone goes posting a youtube clip.

johnart said:

shiloh66 said:

I really like the idea of being able to swim whenever I want... especially since it has been a VERY hot summer here so far... and I think I can get a pretty good deal on the house... so I'm hoping that will balance out the cost of keeping up the pool.

I would be curious about the electric cost tho.

Would you maybe be able to get any roundabout ideas by calling the electric company?

And not the tv show, before someone goes posting a youtube clip.

or maybe aske the realtor to ask the homeowners?

ColAngus said:

I will say there is alot of $$$ in pool chemicals, broken pumps, new covers, new liner.... etc ...

To me - alot of the work ...associated with a pool ... is fun work ... outside work ... etc ....

Exactly! They are just too expensive to maintain and a lot of work if you don't have someone coming to clean it. I haven't used ours in years! I hate the feel of my skin and hair when I get out of a pool, feels so dry!

I will ask my friend she has an outdoor in ground pool-she has just replaced her liner. I'll ask her about the costs.

I also have another friend that has an indoor lap pool and hot tub, but the cool thing about that is when you press a button a wall goes up (just like a garage door) and opens up to a patio that leads down to the beach. That is one cool place to throw a party.

Shorty said:

johnart said:

Would you maybe be able to get any roundabout ideas by calling the electric company?

And not the tv show, before someone goes posting a youtube clip.

or maybe aske the realtor to ask the homeowners?

It's a foreclosure... so unfortunately, I can't get any info from the owners... but I can probably check with the electric co. or with a company that services them.

I really appreciate all of everyone's help and offers to check with friends and family! Y'all are awesome

veronikka said:

ColAngus said:

I will say there is alot of $$$ in pool chemicals, broken pumps, new covers, new liner.... etc ...

To me - alot of the work ...associated with a pool ... is fun work ... outside work ... etc ....

Exactly! They are just too expensive to maintain and a lot of work if you don't have someone coming to clean it. I haven't used ours in years! I hate the feel of my skin and hair when I get out of a pool, feels so dry!

YOU HAVE A POOL ???

I used to have one. It was decent size 16x32 10 ft deep. We had a pool cage over it and a sand filter system that cleaned the water. Had one of those automatic creepy crawly things. We did not have to do much to maintain it.

It really depends on how much you plan on using it. It is one of those things that you have to keep up if you have. We lived in Fl so we just had a solar heat cover over it at night to keep the temp up.

It is a great thing to have if you like to garden. I would spend hours outside gardening then jump in the pool when I got too hot.

Another thing to think about is the age of the house and or pool. My house was a bit older and so was the pool. So we had to pay to have a few cracks fixed and the pool resurfaced. Check that out beforehand.

[Edited 6/30/11 13:16pm]

*goes to the living room; pulls back the blinds and points to the lake* ...Does that count?

Shanti0608 said:

I used to have one. It was decent size 16x32 10 ft deep. We had a pool cage over it and a sand filter system that cleaned the water. Had one of those automatic creepy crawly things. We did not have to do much to maintain it.

It really depends on how much you plan on using it. It is one of those things that you have to keep up if you have. We lived in Fl so we just had a solar heat cover over it at night to keep the temp up.

It is a great thing to have if you like to garden. I would spend hours outside gardening then jump in the pool when I got too hot.

Another thing to think about is the age of the house and or pool. My house was a bit older and so was the pool. So we had to pay to have a few cracks fixed and the pool resurfaced. Check that out beforehand.

[Edited 6/30/11 13:16pm]

The house is quite old... almost 90 years... but the pool was added in 1994 I think. About how much did it cost you to get yours fixed up?

Well... just found out from the selling agent that the pool is in poor condition and the liner is completely destroyed... so as much as I would love to have a beautiful blue pool in the backyard, I think this means I'd have it filled in if I decide to buy the house.

oh well.

shiloh66 said:

Well... just found out from the selling agent that the pool is in poor condition and the liner is completely destroyed... so as much as I would love to have a beautiful blue pool in the backyard, I think this means I'd have it filled in if I decide to buy the house.

oh well.

It might cost you more to fill it in. Get some quotes.

shiloh66 said:

Shorty said:

or maybe aske the realtor to ask the homeowners?

It's a foreclosure... so unfortunately, I can't get any info from the owners... but I can probably check with the electric co. or with a company that services them.

I really appreciate all of everyone's help and offers to check with friends and family! Y'all are awesome

My uncle who's a an AC tech just told me it costs more to run a pool pump than it costs to run an AC, I always thought it was the opposite. Our pump runs for a few hours every night

[Edited 7/1/11 15:29pm]

KoolEaze said:

veronikka said:

Exactly! They are just too expensive to maintain and a lot of work if you don't have someone coming to clean it. I haven't used ours in years! I hate the feel of my skin and hair when I get out of a pool, feels so dry!

YOU HAVE A POOL ???

yup, I may be using this pool after all, it's so darn hot today and it's not even over 100 degrees yet, I can only imagine what the rest of the summer will feel like

I have a shallow hole in my yard with some standing water in it. Does that count?

Shanti0608 said:

shiloh66 said:

Well... just found out from the selling agent that the pool is in poor condition and the liner is completely destroyed... so as much as I would love to have a beautiful blue pool in the backyard, I think this means I'd have it filled in if I decide to buy the house.

oh well.

It might cost you more to fill it in. Get some quotes.

My boyfriend can operate all the equipment, so at least we wouldn't have to pay for the labor, just equipment rental and fill dirt... so probably still in the thousands, but less than if we had to hire a contractor.

get the bank to fix the pool ...

they will negotiate it out !

u can get steals right now with real estate ... unless people are lining up for this house - make a killer deal !

i see them every day (killer deals) and I wish I could get a steal (but i havnt had the income in the past 2 yrs )

ColAngus said:

get the bank to fix the pool ...

they will negotiate it out !

u can get steals right now with real estate ... unless people are lining up for this house - make a killer deal !

i see them every day (killer deals) and I wish I could get a steal (but i havnt had the income in the past 2 yrs )

It's a Fannie Mae property, and unfortunately they won't fix anything... they'll negotiate on the price and closing costs... but it is definitely sold as is... we're going over there today to check out a few more things like the HVAC and plumbing to see how all that looks and make sure it's not all going to fall apart on me.

may your "best deal" like you would on a car ...

and be prepared to walk away ...

a few yrs ago i got a "steal" on a house in my hometown ... i went in .. and offered like 180 on a 228 property ... this was when the market was hot .

i knew it needed work . it was vacant . etc . i actually got the deal because it was winter , the old folks had gone into a nursing home and they didnt wanna keep paying the shoveling etc and upkeep ... i found that out later ...

but in general ... in this market ... i would just make an offer ... and try to stick to it ...

if you know the pool will take 10K work ... make your offer with 10k closing costs ...

if you are a well qualified buyer , it isnt a ridiculous offer - in this market - the banks want well qualified buyers ....

i ended up getting the house above for 190K ... but i really did think i got a good deal in that market .... today - i see unbelievable deals all the time ... just yesterday i saw a new home that was priced at 289 which sold for 265 and - in the old days - the builders NEVER came off the list prices ... sometimes they would throw in some extras ... but ... they rarely sell things at less than full price ....

just my .02 cents ... most of which you have already said i guess and u know ... lol .... good luck with it !

ColAngus said:

may your "best deal" like you would on a car ...

and be prepared to walk away ...

a few yrs ago i got a "steal" on a house in my hometown ... i went in .. and offered like 180 on a 228 property ... this was when the market was hot .

i knew it needed work . it was vacant . etc . i actually got the deal because it was winter , the old folks had gone into a nursing home and they didnt wanna keep paying the shoveling etc and upkeep ... i found that out later ...

but in general ... in this market ... i would just make an offer ... and try to stick to it ...

if you know the pool will take 10K work ... make your offer with 10k closing costs ...

if you are a well qualified buyer , it isnt a ridiculous offer - in this market - the banks want well qualified buyers ....

i ended up getting the house above for 190K ... but i really did think i got a good deal in that market .... today - i see unbelievable deals all the time ... just yesterday i saw a new home that was priced at 289 which sold for 265 and - in the old days - the builders NEVER came off the list prices ... sometimes they would throw in some extras ... but ... they rarely sell things at less than full price ....

just my .02 cents ... most of which you have already said i guess and u know ... lol .... good luck with it !

Thanks so much for your advice... there are definitely some really good deals here... and real estate in general is cheap where I live, which is really nice.

I haven't had very good luck so far tho... had contracts on two different houses until the inspections turned up some nasty stuff that was not visible at all on the surface and I backed out... so I am trying my best to find out everything I can before I get to that point this time.