why do swimming pools reduce a home's property value?

Answer 1

Because taking care of a pool is costly and time consuming. It has to be cleaned or algae grows (yuck!). You have to put chemicals in the water. You have to check the PH balance of the water to make sure its right. You have to do a weekly backwash. Depending on where you live, a pool has limited use. For example, up North, a pool is almost useless unless it is heated and even then there are only about 8 weeks out of the year you can really use it. Then you have to get it ready for the winter, it has to be covered and the step railings have to be removed. Then when its time to use the pool, you have to remove the cover which is bolted down, and re-installed the step railings.

You have to have the filter for the pool run to constantly clean the water and if using a heater that also increases your utilities bills. A pool heater needs to be run constantly in case you want to use the pool. It can takes days before the water in a pool is heated.

Insurance is also higher for a pool because it is a distraction for children to use it unsupervised.

Most people who have a pool put in rarely use it on a regular basis. It's a very bad investment. Use the community pool or at your health club.

During parties and kids running around going crazy, people can be seriously hurt or killed in a pool. Guests can miscalculate their drive and hurt their head seriously. I know of a woman who's husband was hurt in a pool, spent the rest of his life in bed unable to move. I have visited homes where people who had their pool filled in becase a love one died in the pool.

When you have a pool and its on the market, people won't pay for it and it does reduce the value and the house stays on the market much longer. It is only in hot housing markets where people will buy a home with a pool they don't want, and spend the money to have it filled it and/or removed.

It doesn't make your home look up-scale by adding a pool, it makes it look like the owners didn't have much class to consider the impact of putting one in especially if they have less than an acre of land. As I said, use the community pool or one at the health club. It makes no difference if it is an above or in-ground pool, it greatly limits your homes resale value. Above ground pools tell prospective buyers you didn't do your research before installing one.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I have now read sixteen answers to this question, and have determined that the answer differs based on whether you are a "pool person" or not a "pool person". When we bought our house in 1999, there was an in-ground pool in the back yard. We were indifferent to the pool, as we were mainly interested in the location and the town. However, once we cleaned the pool up and opened it for the season, EVERYONE we know agreed that it is the best feature of our property. We are in New England, and usually open the pool on Memorial Day weekend and close it sometime in mid to late September. This gives us a 3 1/2 to 4 month "pool season". If we ever decide to sell our house, we will definitely arrange the showings to be when the pool is open.

As to the effect of a pool on home value: When we bought our house, we wouldn't have paid more because of the pool. On the other hand, we wouldn't have paid less because of the pool either. In evaluations of the home, we have had the pool ADD anywhere from $10,000 (in 1999) to $30,000 (in 2003) to the appraised value of the home. As far as I can see, if the bank's appraiser thinks it adds to the value of the home, it must be so.

Now to debunk a few myths that were tossed around in the previous sixteen answers.
1) The additional cost on my homeowners insurance because there is a pool? $48.00 per year. And my agent tells me I can reduce that by $25.00 per year by removing the diving board.
2) Pools are "low class" additions to a property. In the town where I grew up, the average price of a home today is over $750,000.00. The houses along the ocean-front with the $3 to $5 MILLION prices ALL have swimming pools.
3) You need an acre or more of land to keep a pool from detracting from the value because of the space it takes. Not! I have an acre of land, and my pool and surrounding fenced area take up 80 by 100 feet. That is including perrenial gardens, a water garden/koi pond, and a pool shed. That is 8000 square feet out of 43,000 square feet - less than 20% of my total yard area.
4) Most people don't use their pools/It would be better to use the community pool/health club pool. Sounds like a good argument from someone who doesn't have a pool. My wife and I are in our pool daily when it is open. My kids (ages three and five) have been brought into the pool ever since they were babies. We are starting swimming lessons for them this summer. We just go out to the backyard - open the (securely latched!) gate - and go for a swim. No bullsh*t about loading the kids in the car, making sure everyone peed (or more) before we leave, driving 20 minutes to the YMCA, paying for a family membership ($760.00 at our local YMCA) and then having to deal with someone else's kids peeing in the pool.
5) It is SOOOO damn expensive to run a pool. Not! Even with the cost of having to replace my pump and filter recently, my average cost per year has been around $208.00 per year. This is for chemicals, electricity, test kits, water and also 1/7th the cost of the pump and filter. (Even though I can expect to get twenty years from the replacement filter/pump. Why not, the originals were installed in 1976 and lasted through the end of the 2005 season!) $208 per year is less than 1/3 the cost of a family membership at my local YMCA. Cost...NO PROBLEM!
6) Time: With the exception of the 3 to 4 hours of set-up and break-down time at the beginning and end of the season, I average about an hour per week taking care of the pool. It is an in-ground, gunite pool which requires little vacuuming, and back-flusshing of the filter twice a week. Oh-yeah - I gotta remember the whole five minutes per week it takes to add chlorine tablets to the automatic chlorine feeder!

I would suggest that you make a decision about the value add (or subtract) on a house based upon whether you want a pool, and are willing to take care of it.

Answer 4

It is your home, make the most of it for your enjoyment, put in an above ground pool if you want one, if you aren't lazy they are an easy maintain, put in a garden if you want one, if you decide to sell at some point down the road, take down your pool, take out your garden plant grass seed or put in sod, if your taxes go down while you have a pool, better for you, you pay less, it covers the cost of your insurance and upkeep. Anyone selling a home can convert the back yard back to just a yard, it isn't rocket science.

Answer 5

It matters on the lot size and how it is placed in respect to the house layout. A pool takes away livable space and yard area. But, to the best of my knowledge, a pool can bring up a home's value by a few thousand dollars if it is well-maintained. MayMay

Answer 6

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Answer 7

They can be a hassle with extra upkeep and maintenance expenses, Insurance, etc. People with kids or pets often don't want an inground pool for safety reasons. Plus they take up so much of the backyard, you can hardly do anything else out back with them taking up all the room (and removing them can be a nightmare).

Answer 8

because swiiming pools generate a lot of floor area and a swimming pool is very expensive to maintain and if you are a ordinary worker will you buy a house with a swimming pool or not so sell a house with a swimming pool to those filthy rich people hahahahahaha

Answer 9

They don't reduce the value, but they can reduce perceived value. If the people aren't interested in a pool, then it represents nothing but a hassle... perhaps they don't want to clean it, or don't think they'll use it... or see it as a threat to a young child...

Answer 10

Because there are so many people that do not want a pool. Even if they loved the house but had a pool they had no use for they wouldnt buy it. Also insurance rates are higher.