Comments on: Is Putting in a Swimming Pool Worth It?

By: 5 Misconceptions About Saving for Retirement | colareboenglish

5 Misconceptions About Saving for Retirement | colareboenglish — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:29:51 +0000

[...] less appealing than in-ground pools. The problem is that pools are polarizing. There are constant swimming pool costs ($1,500 on average per year) and they require a lot of [...]

By: Alison Shuman

Alison Shuman — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:38:04 +0000

Fabulous post – I love how you broke down the numbers into a per-use basis! I’ve been thinking about writing about pool values on our appraisal blog and if I get that post going, I’ll be back to visit, and will be linking back to your post here.

I do think the cheapest way to get a pool is to buy a home that already has one – the person that put it in is the one that has the poorest return on the investment – although one could argue that the joy alone may be worth the $50k.

By: Weekly Favorites and Gratitude! «Budgeting In the Fun Stuff

Weekly Favorites and Gratitude! «Budgeting In the Fun Stuff — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:36:36 +0000

[...] Finance with Is Putting in a Swimming Pool Worth It? I don’t think it is, but I loved his [...]

By: Friday Finds May 14th

Friday Finds May 14th — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:31:39 +0000

[...] Finance explores the pros and cons of putting in a swimming pool in Is Putting in a Swimming Pool Worth It? Sometimes I wish we had a swimming pool but most likely the novelty would wear off. If we ever [...]

By: Friday Find May 14th

Friday Find May 14th — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:16:04 +0000

By: Ian Bright

Ian Bright — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:47:00 +0000

The financial costs of a pool are definitely high and the calculations mentioned make sense but there could be some additonal points to consider.

First, the price of water is rising and could easily increase running costs in the future. Here are some observations on this http://www.ing.com/ezonomics/showdoc.jsp?left=false&docid=440108

Second, pools can be risky – especially if you have children becuse of the increased chance of death by drowning . Dubner and Levitt in their original Freakonomics book posed the question of whether guns or swimming pools are more dangerous. Here is a blog link from 2006 where Dubner discusses this and a safety device http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/are-you-ready-for-swimming-pool-season/

By: Darwin

Darwin — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:41:24 +0000

Wow, lots of great comments – virtually all against. With the assumption that we’d recoup virtually none of the invested amount, it practically makes to just move to a house with a pool if considering a move anyway – let them pay for it! I’ve heard mixed reviews on maintenance. Some claim that newer pools are very little maintenance while others claim it’s a daily grind. I guess it greatly depends on which type of pool you get, whether you have trees around it, etc.

Anyway, I don’t think it’s something we’ll consider very heavily here given the negatives, but if a perfect home falls into our lap that already has a pool…maybe.

By: Smarter Spend

Smarter Spend — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:28:52 +0000

I think 50,000 is a very high end pool, even here in pricey Los Angeles, you can get a very nice one built for about $35,000.

How much value does a pool add to houses in your area? Does having a pool increase the house price by 50,000? It probably doesn’t.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:54:17 +0000

Have you thought about weekly chemical checks and supplies? We have a hot tub and still need to check and make changes to the pH and bromine (chlorine-free hot tub) weekly. Depending on if you kept your pool filled during the “off season” you would still be doing maintenance on it all the time.

By: Weekly Wisdom: The Most Important Financial Questions » The Online Investing AI Blog

Sun, 09 May 2010 09:06:02 +0000

[...] Darwin’s Finance wonders: does it makes sense to put in a swimming pool? [...]