Owning a swimming pool comes with perks such as the ability to entertain your children and guests, keeping cool during summer and having a stylish addition to your home. You get to enjoy a resort-like experience at your home. But is a pool a good investment? Considering the cost of construction, is it going to deliver any significant return on investment (ROI)? Here are some factors to bear in mind.

Is a Pool a Good Investment?

Does a Pool Make Your Home More Desirable?

How desirable your home is on the real estate market depends on the buyer’s preference. Some people cannot live without a swimming pool while others will automatically rule out properties with pools. Some buyers simply don’t have the time to maintain a pool while others may have young kids and fear incidents such as drowning.

Where you live also matters. Warmer states are great for pools and having one may make your home more desirable. Colder states, on the other hand, have fewer pool enthusiasts as they can only be used for a few months a year.

If you live in areas where almost no one has a pool, your home is likely to stay in the property market for much longer when it comes the time to sell as fewer buyers will be attracted to it. As a result, you may be forced to decrease the overall sale price of your home.

Additional Expenses to Consider

When considering the ROI from building a pool, you want to consider all costs. Besides average upfront costs of over $20,000 for construction, there are additional expenses that come with owning a pool.

For example, you may be required by jurisdictional regulations to build a pool fence. Moreover, constructing a pool often requires you to rip up your entire backyard. That means you’ll have to spend more to make the surrounding area look good and purchase materials that’ll enhance the look of your pool.

Another expense people commonly ignore is the annual maintenance costs. Keeping your pool clean takes time and money, yet most homeowners will overlook these expenses when calculating the total costs of pool ownership.

For starters, you’ll need to purchase chlorine and other chemicals to keep your pool chemically balanced. You also need to maintain a filter and water pump, which can be quite expensive.

Lastly, your pool needs energy to heat the water and run the filter. These costs can quickly add up, and before you know it, you’ll see a significant increase in your utility bills.

When assessing the real added value of investing in a pool, it’s crucial to consider all these additional costs.

Bottom Line

On a strictly financial basis, you can recoup a small percentage of your original investment in a pool. However, there are several other non-financial factors to consider such as the market desirability and quality of life. For instance, some buyers may insist on a pool, especially in warmer climates. So, is a pool a good investment? That largely depends on where you live. Your pool has the best shot of adding value to your home if you live in a hot area where pools are popular.