[Howdy]

Originally Posted by PoolBrews

I've had 3 homes over the past 40 years - and have installed 3 pools - one at each of them. I absolutely love having one and we use it all the time. The Villages is one place where a pool will actually increase your home value. Lots that can support a pool are few and far between and it's more difficult to find a home with a pool. There are so many negative comments posted... let me try to address them with my experience:

1) A pool will also increase your homeowner's insurance due to liability and property risk. FALSE.

My home insurance is the same as it was before I had the pool installed. The only time you MIGHT see an increase is if you have a diving board, and even then, it is only another $50/year. My first two pools had diving boards, my pool here in The Villages does not.

2) Maintaining, was a real plain & simple " Nuisance ". Spent huge money on repairs, renovation, leaks, maintenance, etc.

As I stated, I've had a pool for 40 years. Never had to spend money on repairs, renovations, and never had a leak. For maintenance, the only time I had to outlay money was to replace a heater on my first pool after 15 years. I view this as the same as replacing an appliance. Most of the above listed "issues" are due to not doing research and selecting a good pool builder. When the initial work is not done properly or inferior equipment is installed.

3) A lot of golf course homes have pools. I see someone actually using a pool ... maybe once a month. Like owning a boat.

We use our pool almost daily, year long. Even when we are not using it to swim in, we love the view it adds to the back of our home.

4) If you’re going to do a pool, I highly recommend getting solar heat, as a regular pool heater will really run up the electric bill.

We have a heat pump - it adds at most $50/month, and then only in Jan/Feb. It doesn't need to run in the summer and only a few hours a day in spring and fall. For me, it's simply doing a cost analysis on the whether you want to spend the $5K to $7K on solar. Solar works great in the summer - when you don't need it - OK in the spring and fall, but not very well in the cold months - when you really need it. If you actually want to keep the pool in the mid to high 80's in the cooler and cold months, you will need to have a secondary heater, either gas or electric. Once you have a heater, the solar won't do anything in the summer as it's not needed, it takes off $20-$30/month in Jan/Feb, and $10-$15/month in fall and spring. For me, solar will never pay to replace itself during it's normal lifetime. In addition, you have to pay to have it removed and reinstalled when you need to replace your roof.

If you don't have a hot tub attached to your pool, a heat pump will work very well and is much cheaper to run than gas.

Go to a site called TFP (Home - Trouble Free Pool). This site is run by a number of former/retired pool builders, installers, and contractors and is filled with tons of help for caring for your own pool. I take care of my own pool and it takes less than 30 minutes a week. I spend less than $200-$300 a year for chemicals. The pool services around here are ridiculously expensive is you know what they actually do.

Several other advantages to having your own pool:

1) You (or your kids/grandkids) can take whatever you want in the pool. Floaties, mats, innertubes, toys, etc.
2) You can take drinks in your pool without anyone saying no.
3) You can play any music you want. We have a TV in our outdoor area and love to watch football games from the pool.
4) We have a courtyard villa... so for us, suits are optional. You can only do this once in a Villages pool.

If you do a search here, you can find posts I have put up on do's and don't for getting a new pool with advice on what to look for, builders that are known to be good, and several to completely avoid.

I have no idea what the % of homeowners who # 1 Actually enjoy or regret having put one in.

At a guess you must be in the Low % of those who actually use it regularly and have zero regret having one installed.

For me when I sold the house that had a pool, the + % of prospective buyers were actually put off by the fact that the house had a pool.

[thelegges]

On our 3rd pool 1 being in northern Michigan That was more of a pain because it was older.
TV I understand those who had are older and had older equipment it must have been frustrated to take care of.

Todays equipment tells you what's wrong takes care of freeze warnings turns the pump on and off, problems.

We have a Robot that drop in once a week cleans the pool completely. chemicals when needed obviously summer requires more than winter. My average monthly cost for a year is around $36.
Other than drop robot in, I do nothing else.
As we were looking for homes last 15 years the 2 perks that sold far more quickly, house with a view Or a pool.

Add a view and pool less than a few days on the market. yes we have recouped money selling houses with pools And so much more

[villagetinker]

We decided early on that we did want a pool, 3 in walking/golf cart distance. We did get a hot tub, and this does get used. The next door house has a pool and a few years ago a close in lightning strike (not on that or my property) caused around $7000 in damage most to the pool equipment, computer controls, pumps, etc. Several neighbors have pools and hot tubs, it looks like the hot tubs get more use.

[ChicagoNative]

I’ll stand by my solar recommendation. We like the water to be between 88-90. Even in the summer it wouldn’t get that warm without using the heater. We use the heater to heat the hot tub as it raises the temp 20 degrees in one hour, but the pool increases only 2 degrees an hour. Depends on your comfort level.

Our solar company told us it’d be about 2500 to remove/reinstall the panels if we needed a new roof, which is still several years away for us. Probably will be more than that when it’s time. Comes with the territory.

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Regarding your No. 1, here is a website that calculates homeowner's insurance in great detail and it says that, in Florida, a pool will increase your insurance by about 15 to 25 percent.

How Much Does Home Insurance Increase With a Pool? Free Calculator & Cost Guide

OK, so you have a site that tells you it will be more. I have actual experience that my home insurance did not change. And I have never seen a line item on any of my insurance policies over the years that showed a charge for owning a pool. The only way I've seen it increase is if you decide to add additional coverage to cover the cost of replacing the pool and birdcage in the event of damage.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by PoolBrews

OK, so you have a site that tells you it will be more. I have actual experience that my home insurance did not change. And I have never seen a line item on any of my insurance policies over the years that showed a charge for owning a pool. The only way I've seen it increase is if you decide to add additional coverage to cover the cost of replacing the pool and birdcage in the event of damage.

Not just this one website, but almost every Internet search will state that installing a pool will raise your insurance rate. Typically, the pool will not be mentioned specifically in the insurance policy document. It is just common sense that a pool will increase your exposure to liability. In your case, maybe you were just lucky.

[jimhoward]

I have a good sized pool (12x35') I enjoy it very much. I use it much more than I used the pool in my prior home in Tennessee. In addition to using the pool I also like the way it looks. The pool in the villages sits in a big bird cage off the Lanai with a big concrete pool deck. It really adds to the living space. I like to sit out there. Of course you could just have a big bird cage without a pool, but the pool is nice.

Like most pools in the Villages mine is salt water, and that really makes maintenance easy. I have T&D maintain the pool, which costs about $250/month. My pool in Tenn, costs $450/month to maintain, so the villages is quite a bit cheaper. And T&D is probably the most expensive pool maintenance company in the villages. You can maintain a salt water pool yourself for much less money, almost nothing, but I prefer just letting someone else do it so I have zero work.

The value of and market for my home with a pool is something my grandchildren can worry about after I am gone. But if you do a search on either Zillow or thevillages.com for villages homes for sale with pools, you will see there are relatively few compared with the total number of listings.

In terms of heaters. I use a large (400K BTU) gas heater. I turn it off in the winter and only turn it on in winter when I want to use the pool. I can heat the pool in a few hours. When run this way, it doesn't cost much.

[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by PoolBrews

I've had 3 homes over the past 40 years - and have installed 3 pools - one at each of them. I absolutely love having one and we use it all the time. The Villages is one place where a pool will actually increase your home value. Lots that can support a pool are few and far between and it's more difficult to find a home with a pool. There are so many negative comments posted... let me try to address them with my experience:

1) A pool will also increase your homeowner's insurance due to liability and property risk. FALSE.

My home insurance is the same as it was before I had the pool installed. The only time you MIGHT see an increase is if you have a diving board, and even then, it is only another $50/year. My first two pools had diving boards, my pool here in The Villages does not.

2) Maintaining, was a real plain & simple " Nuisance ". Spent huge money on repairs, renovation, leaks, maintenance, etc.

As I stated, I've had a pool for 40 years. Never had to spend money on repairs, renovations, and never had a leak. For maintenance, the only time I had to outlay money was to replace a heater on my first pool after 15 years. I view this as the same as replacing an appliance. Most of the above listed "issues" are due to not doing research and selecting a good pool builder. When the initial work is not done properly or inferior equipment is installed.

3) A lot of golf course homes have pools. I see someone actually using a pool ... maybe once a month. Like owning a boat.

We use our pool almost daily, year long. Even when we are not using it to swim in, we love the view it adds to the back of our home.

4) If you’re going to do a pool, I highly recommend getting solar heat, as a regular pool heater will really run up the electric bill.

We have a heat pump - it adds at most $50/month, and then only in Jan/Feb. It doesn't need to run in the summer and only a few hours a day in spring and fall. For me, it's simply doing a cost analysis on the whether you want to spend the $5K to $7K on solar. Solar works great in the summer - when you don't need it - OK in the spring and fall, but not very well in the cold months - when you really need it. If you actually want to keep the pool in the mid to high 80's in the cooler and cold months, you will need to have a secondary heater, either gas or electric. Once you have a heater, the solar won't do anything in the summer as it's not needed, it takes off $20-$30/month in Jan/Feb, and $10-$15/month in fall and spring. For me, solar will never pay to replace itself during it's normal lifetime. In addition, you have to pay to have it removed and reinstalled when you need to replace your roof.

If you don't have a hot tub attached to your pool, a heat pump will work very well and is much cheaper to run than gas.

Go to a site called TFP (Home - Trouble Free Pool). This site is run by a number of former/retired pool builders, installers, and contractors and is filled with tons of help for caring for your own pool. I take care of my own pool and it takes less than 30 minutes a week. I spend less than $200-$300 a year for chemicals. The pool services around here are ridiculously expensive is you know what they actually do.

Several other advantages to having your own pool:

1) You (or your kids/grandkids) can take whatever you want in the pool. Floaties, mats, innertubes, toys, etc.
2) You can take drinks in your pool without anyone saying no.
3) You can play any music you want. We have a TV in our outdoor area and love to watch football games from the pool.
4) We have a courtyard villa... so for us, suits are optional. You can only do this once in a Villages pool.

If you do a search here, you can find posts I have put up on do's and don't for getting a new pool with advice on what to look for, builders that are known to be good, and several to completely avoid.

I agree with all of the above. We have owned a pool here for over 14 years. Built by T&D. solar heat. Never had any major problems or repairs. We choose to have Orca Pools maintain our pool. Just like any appliance you will have to replace a filter or a pump. Nothing major here. You cannot put a price on privacy in a community built on postage stamps. Nothing like walking out your sliders into your own pool. I don't have to listen to your chatter or your music. We have a summer kitchen and can grill and eat at poolside. I don't have to fight for a seat in the shade or for any seat for that matter. Build your pool with privacy walls and plantings. After a swim we lay in the lounge chair and think we are at a resort and we have a very modest pool. 12x24 kidney shaped. Great to view from the house. Remember you can't take it with you (money).

[ThirdOfFive]

We know several folks who have them. To a person, they regret it. One says that he and the missus spend more time on upkeep and maintenance than on actually using it.

Think about it. TV has well over 100 pools that residents can use. Why spend time and money on upkeep for something that you can use, when you want, for free?

Is image really that important?

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

We know several folks who have them. To a person, they regret it. One says that he and the missus spend more time on upkeep and maintenance than on actually using it.

Think about it. TV has well over 100 pools that residents can use. Why spend time and money on upkeep for something that you can use, when you want, for free?

Is image really that important?

So confused on why it takes more than 15 minutes a week on maintenance. Something is very wrong. One has no idea how much use private pools get because they are Private. We do use ours daily, little cost, but real reason our pool compared to the 5 Public pools within 5 minutes is....
I can swim laps 24/7 any time of the day with zero wait
I can float in my shaded lounger drink in cup holder snacks I'd desired. Listen to my music or watch a program.
Enjoy a view of the stars while all pools are closed.

Best reason I can read a book without noise of mindless useless conversations of 20 people

[tophcfa]

Cons are that a pool is expensive to both buy or build, they are costly to maintain, and they require some work. Also, some might view the fact that you might have more people wanting to come visit you when you have a pool as either a pro or con?

Pros are that you have your own private pool, where you can do whatever you want 24/7.

Is it worth it, that’s up to each individual to decide based on their disposable income and how much they enjoy having a private pool. For us, being frugal New Englanders, our pool is a huge splurge that we typically wouldn’t make, but the enjoyment we get from it makes it an exception that’s well worth it.

[vbsheriff]

First home in TV had no pool. Current home for the last 12 years has a pool and separate hot tub. We use both regularly. Recommend a pool heat pump heater/chiller for year round comfort. Guesstimating cost when running it at a couple of dollars per day.

[CrosbyStills]

Originally Posted by Nell57

Realtors will tell you that it may or may not help your houses resale value. You’ve limited yourself to the 50% of buyers who may want a pool. 50% definitely do not.

You've limited yourself to the 50% of the market whether you have a pool or not. Some want to buy your house if you have one, some will not buy your house if you don't have one.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by CrosbyStills

You've limited yourself to the 50% of the market whether you have a pool or not. Some want to buy your house if you have one, some will not buy your house if you don't have one.

Not exactly. Some people will choose to buy a house without a pool and build their own. If there is a pool already there, very few people will spend the money to remove it. They will just buy a house without a pool. In my opinion, most people do not want a pool. So, people who do want a pool do not represent anywhere near 50 percent of the market. According to "inside the bubble", less than 10 to 15 percent of houses in The Villages have a pool.

[Altavia]

Quickest way to get your neighbors to hate you is add a pool 5yrs after moving in and create 9-12+ months of noise and mess during installation.

Best and probably most cost effective way is buy a home with a pool.