What Q's to ask before buying house with IG Pool?

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crek31

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Jun 28, 2009
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I am looking at a house with an IG pool tomorrow. Has the square footage I've been wanting, in the school district I want, is in my price range and has an in-ground pool. If I happen to like the house I'll probably move fairly quickly on it. So, please let me know what questions I need to ask to ensure I'm getting a usable pool not a money trap or very big hole in the ground. It appears from an areal of the property that there might also be a spa. Here are some I've thought of, but no doubt I've missed some big ones:

1. Age of pool and/or spa
2. Age of liner if there is one
3. Material of inside of pool and/or spa
4. Ever had a leak?
5. Number and placement of drains and returns
6. How is it heated
7. Age of equipment (although I'd be prepared to buy new heater and pump/filter -- I just don't want to have a bunch of structural stuff)
8. What has been used in terms of maintaining water chemistry

Thanks again for any help.
 
Had I not talked to the pool company that did the maintenance on this pool directly, I would have been stuck with a host of issues. As it was, I got more info from them than the homeowner was divulging. They were pretty much hard to get info from. They told us it was a snap and they had no problems. As it was, at the time, there was a big gaping hole in the liner, no water, and neatly covered with the winter cover. Uh huh....

So IMO, talk to the pool company too.
 
Your eyes will be the best judge. Is it clean around the pool? Does the equipment look neglected? How does the water look?

I also know from your saga here on TFP that you have enough knowledge to arm yourself pretty well and be a good, common sense judge.

Poolgirl's idea is very smart.
 
When I bought my house it had a pool. I had a pool inspection done as well and the cost was only 75.00. They tested all the equipment and checked for what leaks they could. So it was well worth it in my opinion. So that is another option as well.
 
What they all said, plus ask if the homeowner kept any maintenance records. Take lots of pictures, especially if anything looks odd. Take your test kit and test the water while you are there! (That way they will think you know what you are talking about when you are asking all those technical questions!)
 
I paid for an inspection on my pool prior to buying and unfortunately it was pretty worthless. I was moving from 5 states away so I couldn't be there for it, but if I remember correctly, the equipment was not part of their inspection - I don't know if that's common, so make sure you know what you're paying for in the inspection.
 
Butterfly said:
Even with inspections, problems can still be missed or something can break.

I like the idea of a homeowner's warranty that includes the pool and equipment, etc.
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Ditto. We sprung that on the seller right before closing and basically said we don't trust you so if you want the deal done it comes with a pool rider on the already agreed upon warranty.
 
Make sure it has all the necessary controls if it has been modernized. We bought a foreclosed home and had the pool inspected, all checked out OK. The issue that arose, neded the Jandy PDA to program the devices (filter pump, etc.). It ended up costing us ~$300 for the PDA. Had I known that earlier I would have asked for a credit prior to closing.
 

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Ashbourne said:
I paid for an inspection on my pool prior to buying and unfortunately it was pretty worthless. I was moving from 5 states away so I couldn't be there for it, but if I remember correctly, the equipment was not part of their inspection - I don't know if that's common, so make sure you know what you're paying for in the inspection.
Click to expand...

That's terrible. I'm a home inspector who offers this service, and other than the obvious safety issues that we comment on, this is the #1 concern.

That's what I'd do. Find a home inspector who will spend 30-45 minutes with the pool, and if anything comes up, counter back with either a beefed up home warranty, or have them address the issues, either with repair, or compensation.

Greg
 
Thanks everyone! Feel free to keep adding ideas, but this is a great list of consideration. If I like the house, I'll be sure to check out the pool as well as possible using your input. I love the idea of taking my test kit, but I'm not sure I'll actually have the guts to do it :lol:
 
I suspect the pool with either look functional (if not perfect) or a complete wreck,as an example my wife and I recently looked at a house that was a bank foreclosed property (it had been vacant for a year and had just been listed), in a reasonably nice 30 year old neighborhood, 2-3 acre lots, mostly custom built homes, etc. (we had previously looked at the house next door). The real estate agent is a friend of my wife, and had not seen the property before, it turned out to be a real disaster, there was the remains of an in ground vinyl pool in the back yard, (probably an 18x36), it had been drained and a 15 foot section of one side had collapsed into the pool taking about 5 feet of concrete decking with it, there was a sun room on the back of the house with a multi person in floor fiberglass hot tub which had floated about 2 feet out of its hole, the carpets were stained, appliances damaged, etc. In other words a real fixer-upper, with an asking price of about 50% more than the similar sized house in good condition next door that we previously viewed.
 
I would ask for a home warranty paid for by the seller. It's pretty standard these days especially with foreclosed properties. Your agent should be all over it. I hope it works out, it would suck to find the perfect house then find out the pool is a money pit.
 
Bummer. Saw house. Choppy, dated, needs a ton of work, reeked of cat urine Not so much in our price range when consider amount of work needed. Pool was nice, however - brand new vinyl (which I'm much more comfortable with), concrete surround, gazebo off pool, hot tub in second gazebo, sunroom up a board-walk from the pool. Pool was completely fenced and had a nice mesh cover. On one acre of flat grass with just enough trees to have them but not have them get in the way of using the yard. Unfortunately I can't put my house on that lot with the pool. So, thanks for the input and maybe some other lucky soul will get a chance to use all your great suggestions when buying a house with an in-ground pool.

Now, I guess I'll go call my patio contractor and create as good a backyard entertainment area as I can. Thanks again everyone.
 
When we bought our house, it was February so we couldn't have the pool equipment tested. The sellers did acknowledge that the pool needed a new liner, which we were fine with. But since we couldn't test the equipment, our attorney draw up an addendum to the purchase agreement which provided for an escrow account for the pool which the sellers deposited money into. A couple of months later, when it was warm enough out to test the equipment, we found some of the equipment needed work. That work was paid for out of the seller's escrow account, so setting up the sale that way really benefitted us.
 
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