Lately, I've been checking out homes that are currently on the market. I have been ignoring the ones with an inground pool. We consider pools more as a liability because of maintenance and safety. Do you think our concerns are valid? Would you want a house with a pool? Why or why not?

Plus, we can't use it all year long, just half the year because of winter. So, it seems to me that pools are more of a hassle.

Although we may not buy a house with a pool, the subdivisions on my list have community pools. So, not having one in the backyard does not mean we won't be able to go swimming.

I'm asking because there's this one house that is really nice BUT it has a pool.

It depends on how much you like swimming. Personally I am not a huge fan of it and would rather have the yard space to do other stuff. There are definitely upkeep costs and perhaps your insurance might be higher due to liability. Is the pool in question at least fenced in? It is possible to remove (fill in) a pool but it probably costs almost as much as putting it in in the first place.

I think it's well established that a pool is a liability. It could be worth it depending on your personal opinion. But you will not recoup the cost of a pool when you sell and you will have monthly maintenance costs even if you do it yourself.

The answer to your question depends on a number of factors. In places where there is a lot of sun year-round (think SoCal or AZ), a pool definitely adds resale value to your home. In most cases in most parts of the country however, a pool is liability in the purest financial sense. That said, I enjoy my pool very much, but I live in SoCal and I can afford to have it.

And if the house you're looking at is ideal in every aspect but the pool, calculate the cost of having the pool filled in and consider that part of your cost for acquiring the house. Then determine if that cost still makes sense for the house you want.

I'm in sunny AZ. It's too darned cold in the winter to swim unless you pay $$$ every month to heat the pool! The general consensus around here is that it does not add to the resale value but that is debatable.

In a purely financial sense I would say they are a liability. Any extra resale value you might get out of the pool, you are probably going to be paying when you buy the house/put in a pool.

They do cost extra in utility bills and in maintenance costs.

I bought a home with a pool and am very happy with it. I grew up in a home with a pool, and understood the costs and work required, though. I also become part fish during the summer, metaphorically at least, spending alot of time in the pool.

I would estimate we spend ~$50 a month on pool chemicals, plus higher utility bills. The big thing is that its alot of work to maintain, if you do it yourself. Testing the water each week, adding chloring or PH balancers. Backwashing the filter(if its a sand filter), cleaning out the physical plastic filter once or twice a week. We have a baracuda that vaccuums the bottom, but it doesnt get everywhere so you have to brush the places it cant get to like the top step.

Of course, during the winter its cheaper to maintain because you dont lose as much water to evaporation, you can run your filter less often(basically just vaccuum the bottom once a week), and the cold weather stunts algae growth so you need less chlorine.

Just a personal choice. I love it, and put up with the extra costs and physical work. If you dont love swimming, then dont bother.

Are the maintenance and upkeep costs different if it's a salt water pool?

Honestly, I dont know. I've never had a salt water pool, so I havent really looked into it.

HA!!HA!!
Now you've got me intrigued. Is there really a market for saltwater pools?

The beauty of a pool is that you don't have the effects of salt on your skin and eyes. There may also be some sort of deposits that form because of the salt.

Please provide a link or resource showing that people are honestly interested in this. I'm curious, but too lazy to look it up myself.

Salt water pools exist. They seem to have become more popular lately. A friend of my wife's had a salt water pool(until their home foreclosed).

http://www.salinepoolsystems.com/learn_more.htm

Even though they are called salt water pools and the water is indeed slightly saline, the underlying mechanism of disinfection - exposure to chlorine ions - is the same as a "regular" pool. The available chlorine concentration is about the same. The main difference is the chlorine delivery system. While I understand there are major conveniences and advantages to salt water pools I don't think there are any major differences regarding effect on skin, hair, etc. I regularly use two different pools, one "salt water" and the other traditional chlorine. I have noticed no difference whatsoever on my skin or hair. I also regularly spend time in the ocean and definitely notice a difference with that.

Incidentally, there are several different pool "chemistries" used to produce chlorination. Deriving chlorine from common salt is just one of them.

For me, posting from IL, an inground pool is a HUGE liability. Insurance is more expensive, you need to maintain it, and because so many people think it's a liability, it might be difficult to sell your house down the road (should you choose to do so). Also, I would get limited use out of the pool, as we get a lot of snow here.

My aunt and uncle bought a home that had an inground pool, and one of the first things they did was remove it. They didn't want the hassle of maintaining it (their neighbors also told them that a lot of high school kids would come to the house when the previous owners lived there and take dips in the pool - uninvited, btw. Who would want that kind of liability?!)

I'm weird. I've heard they are a liability but I would love to have an inground pool, and would be willing to pay the extra costs for it (had I had the money and space for one ) for adding to my quality of life. Everyone in my family loves to swim and so we drive to go swimming multiple times a week in the summer, camp where we can swim in a river, go to the beach so we can go in the ocean and swim in a pool. We live in NC.

I do agree like a handgun they can be dangerous and an attractant so education and vigilance is needed. You are required to keep them secured with a fence of a certain height around it. My husband's family is very safety conscious. My husband has passed certified courses in scuba diving, cpr and life guarding (he's also a life scout). His mom was a life guard and knew how to water ski before it was popular for women to do so.

We looked for houses specifically that had a pool.

We have a hot tub and a pool and love it. We live on 5 acres and have no issue with anyone using it. Minimal time maintaining, especially compared to the fun we get out of it.

We also have a boat, it's great to go out on the boat and get all salty and come home and jump in the pool. Ours is also heated so I keep it at a comfortable temperature to swim.

The kids have their friends over a lot to swim, and family functions tend to center at our house.

Our pool is open 8 months a year. In the beginning and end we don't heat it, but it's nice to look at out the backyard.

I don't really care if it's a downside when I sell down the road, we got years of enjoyment out of it.