Dang is this hard!!!

We looked into building an IG pool several years back and ended up buying a boat instead. Now we're thinking of selling the boat and building the IG pool again (Can't afford both). My wife and I are both torn if we should take the plunge or not. We don't feel the investment is that great on a pool in case we ever have to sell the house. Plus it seems so frivolous for a couple of conservative people. We plan on being here another 12 years and the boat wont be worth that much in 12 yrs either. We have a 6 and 12 yr old, so they will enjoy it. I guess its the money (investment) thing that is holding us back. Did everyone else go through this questioning or did ya just go for it?

Well, "I" just went for it. DH says the backyard belongs to me now as it has a hole in it filled with water. I wanted a pool for 15 years before we put one in our back yard. My DH is not much of a swimmer (although he says he'll get in the pool more when I get the heater fixed) so he's not in the pool too much.

I'm not a "boat" person so I'd choose the pool. We've been in our house a long time and so I don't know what would happen should we decide to sell the house.

Maybe you should try an AG pool -- that way you'd get a little taste of both the good and the bad of owning a pool. Did you look at some of the pool pictures posted for AG and IG pools -- there are some really neat pools that the members of this site own!

I love my IG pool and wished I'd splurged a little bit more. But, we did pay for our pool (Took all those 15 years to save up! LOL)

I'm sure you'll get other opinions -- but my vote -- POOL! : )

my pool was here when we bought our house..matter of fact, bought the property for the house (even though the pool of course was attractive to the kids, 9 and 11 at the time 3 years ago..i remember thinking of 2 things though relative to the pool. the expense and time to maintain..and when you go to resell, the affect on the value of the home. i guess if i were you, i'd really consider your geographic location. if you're in a place where pools are common, i'd say you'll get your moneys worth..if you're in a place like i am ..population 80,000 and only 250 pools..it's not a great investment towards the property..matter of fact,when i looked again at our property value report against 3 other homes, the house was devalued in the pool sense by 8,000.

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Originally Posted by s6skuzy

We looked into building an IG pool several years back and ended up buying a boat instead. Now we're thinking of selling the boat and building the IG pool again (Can't afford both).

Have you felt that you made the wrong decision when you bought the boat? Do you still use it often or are you wondering if you would be using the pool more?

My wife and I are both torn if we should take the plunge or not. We don't feel the investment is that great on a pool in case we ever have to sell the house.

You will never recoup the full cost of building the pool when you sell your home, but it should increase the value of the home. You can't say the same with a boat.

Plus it seems so frivolous for a couple of conservative people. We plan on being here another 12 years and the boat wont be worth that much in 12 yrs either. We have a 6 and 12 yr old, so they will enjoy it. I guess its the money (investment) thing that is holding us back.

Quite simply I went with the decision of the pool because I knew we would use it more often than the boat. Also the pool adds to the value of the home :) the boat just loses value.:(

Did everyone else go through this questioning or did ya just go for it?

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Both the pool and boat require upkeep. With all the great advice on this forum the pools upkeep is really pretty simple (if you keep up on it).

You know what they say about boat owners - their happiest days are the day they buy their boat, and the day they sell it! :) I'd definitely go with the pool, although I've never owned either (pool is under construction right now).

I don't know if you live right by the water, but it would seem to me that it would start to become a pain towing the boat to the water, and packing everyone in the car just to go for a boat ride. If you rent a slip by the water, then there's the added expense for that.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll be happy with whichever decision you go with!

We don't live by the water and have to tow to a lake. We don't regret buying the boat as our finances were a little different back then. The job market was worse back then for us and if we had to sell, we could. You can't sell the pool if you loose your job. We also have to have an IG due to our association rules. No AG can be placed on any lot in the sub. What we're having a hard time with is the 40k it will cost. Not sure how much value this will add to our home. We live in Michigan and we will get 4-5 months use (more than the boat which we would use maybe 10-15 times a year). To spend 40K on a pool and maybe get 5-10K more when we sell is a worse investment than the boat (not that either are good investments). Although we would get much more use and enjoyment from the pool. See our dilemma??? Argh!!!

I was under the impression that a pool usually detracted from the sellability of a house, but maybe the selling price is increased too, don't know. I would assume that would depend on the area. You definitely have the advantage of finding this site before starting construction. You have a wonderful chance to do it right, install what you want and need, and avoid all the 'extras' that do nothiing but cost $$$ and grief. I think Michigan is pretty close weather wise to my area of Northeast PA. Maybe you're a little colder. I'm amazed at how many pools there are in my area which isn't exactly Beverly Hills. I inherited mine with the house in 97 and it isn't anything to show off but it's functional and has become my 'science project' to keep me busy in my retirement years. The initial cost is high but recurring costs should be minimal. Go for the pool.
Al

If you are at all unhappy with your present location, you might do better selling the house you live in now and buying a house that already has a pool installed. With that, you basically get the pool for free. We bought a house with a pool, our first, and I definitely would not want to go through buying a new one. Luckily, the basics of this pool are solid, so it was just a matter of finding this site to make it almost carefree. :D

Our pool is a basic 16'x31' recatangle inground plaster 3' shallow to 6' deep end, one skimmer, two returns and a Polaris 180 with a sand filter. Brick coping and pebble finish concrete deck. As simple as you can get for an inground pool, but it's good to swim in. :p

If you look at the home value estimation site www.zillow.com and compare my house to an identical flooplan (and even color..) house just around the corner my house is only worth $13,000 more than my neighbor's. I just bought the place in March and I can tell you that that estimate sounds right on the money. My house sits on 5,000 sq/ft more land and that accounts for virtually all of the difference in value. The pool probably doesn't affect the resale value at all. (Unless you're showing the house in June-August and it's 90+ degrees and 90% relative humidity :D ) All the realtors I talked to said that swimming pools didn't make much difference in selling price around here. They did think it helped sell the house faster however.

Talk to any realtors you know and feel them out for your area.

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.

A pool is a hole in the ground you throw money into.

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Originally Posted by s6skuzy

We looked into building an IG pool several years back and ended up buying a boat instead. Now we're thinking of selling the boat and building the IG pool again (Can't afford both). My wife and I are both torn if we should take the plunge or not. We don't feel the investment is that great on a pool in case we ever have to sell the house. Plus it seems so frivolous for a couple of conservative people. We plan on being here another 12 years and the boat wont be worth that much in 12 yrs either. We have a 6 and 12 yr old, so they will enjoy it. I guess its the money (investment) thing that is holding us back. Did everyone else go through this questioning or did ya just go for it?

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Boater ---> been there, done that.
Get the pool. Trust me, which I am or was a previous boat owner.

You want to ride a boat. Rent it. ;)
Pool is forever.\