Hi TFP friends!
What a GREAT site this is to learn and get ideas! I've been visiting off and on as I try to decide on building a pool. I was leaning towards making the 'jump' and today a co-worker highly recommend against it. He said my kids were too old and it wouldn't be worth the money as it would rarely get used, not to mention cost of maintaining. My kids and I live in Southern CA in a community surrounded by homes with custom pool/spa combo's. In fact, I'm only one of two homes that are left to install one. It's a 2 year old community.
I could REALLY use all of your help in trying to decide! Some questions/thoughts that keep popping up in my mind:
- Will I recover any $ spent in bldg when I sell in 8-10 years (House will be too big for just me when kids are gone)? If so, what is the going % in SoCal?
- Should I not view as an 'investment' and more of joy/quality time spent with kids & creating memories? If so, that leads me to question what my colleague said about it being 'too' late.
- I keep seeing a wide range of answers as to true cost of ownership and build. I fear that being a full time working single mom, would I have the time to truly find a reputable quality contractor I can trust?
I'll stop there for now as I'm hoping not to scare some friends off from replying!
Have a wonderful evening,
Mika~
1. The consensus is that you don't recover much of the money at resale by building a pool. My personal opinion is that may be a bit of an over generalization. If you live in an area where very few other homes have pools, it can indeed add extra value. If you live in an area where most of the homes do have pools, it probably won't, since it's somewhat expected. In your case most all the homes in your area already have pools, so it won't add much extra value, if any. Having a pool is already the baseline. However, being the only home
without a pool in your area, may indeed lower the value of your home to potential buyers comparing your property to the ones they've looked at down the street. I'm certainly not saying you should build a pool to "keep up", but since you brought up resale value, it should be part of the overall equation.
2. Does your colleague even own a pool? I'm just wondering from what basis he's telling another person it's too late to have a pool? Using his logic, no one would ever build a pool because it's useful life is so finite...which of course is ridiculous. If you feel, or believe your friend, that you would have absolutely no use for the pool after the kids reach a certain age, than it probably doesn't make sense to move forward. However if the whole lifestyle of the the backyard oasis is one you can picture you and your family in, it certainly does. If you believe a pool will add to the quality of life for you and your kids, and you have the means, I can't see why you wouldn't. We had a smaller pool, and now we are in the middle of replacing it with a bigger, more elaborate pool. My oldest is 14. I look back and I can't imagine what would have replaced the wonderful family time, parties with family and friends, etc. that the pool has afforded us..and will continue to. I (and I would guess most others here) rarely, if ever, think about the cost or money invested in their pool once it's being enjoyed and becomes part of the family. While it's use may morph over the years, from 'party central' for the teenagers to more of a 'comfortable retreat' for adults later, the value of the pool is maintained.
3. Should you choose to move forward, you'll get plenty of great advice on how to proceed with contractors, and everything else. Keep in mind, most of the people on this board have already been right where you are! Just ask. I've learned that the level of expertise and experience around here is such that there is nothing, and I mean nothing, regarding this process that others haven't already been through, and are more than willing to help. Think you're the only working single mom around here? Nope.
Lots to think about...best of luck
