Would an endless pool in the basement of a house make you more likely to buy it?

[Via]

Last year a friend of mine approached me with "great" opportunity to get an endless pool for my house. It was some kind of marketing deal with a 50% discount. I wasn't really interested and declined.

Just recently I thought about it again. I like pools, I swam competitively all the way through HS, and I'm always looking for new ways to stay in shape. Did I maybe make a mistake in not considering it? Could it have added significant value to my house?

If you were looking at a house and it had an endless pool in the basement would it

1) turn you off to buying the house

2) increase what you'd offer for the house

or

3) meh

 

[Eug]

1) Turn me off, because the first thing I'd do is remove it.

Same thing with in-ground pools. I told my real estate agent if a decent house that met my needs had a pool, that pool would mean I'd strip $20000 off my offer, because that would be the cost to remove the pool and re-landscape. I live in Canada, in a temperate climate. I understand the same is generally true for the northern US (but not true in the south) for real estate.

BTW, two of my neighbours had in-ground pools. Now that both neighbours no longer have kids in the house, they both filled in their pools. One at considerable expense. The other at less out-of-pocket expense, but lots of personal time, because he did all the hard manual labour himself.

 

[RaistlinZ]

1)

Unless I was a competitive swimmer and needed my own private pool, I wouldn't want it. Unnecessary pool = unnecessary maintenance.

 

[DrPizza]

In the basement, no, it wouldn't increase the value of a house to me. In some sort of solarium or sunroom, probably.

 

[Via]

It wasn't so much the idea of maintenance that made me decline. I was worried about all of that moisture.

But even if it was in perfect shape, and the basement had great dehumidification (is that even a word?) you would have been instantly turned off? Probably a good thing I didn't go for it.

 

[Eug]

It wasn't so much the idea of maintenance that made me decline. I was worried about all of that moisture.

But even if it was in perfect shape, and the basement had great dehumidification (is that even a word?) you would have been instantly turned off? Probably a good thing I didn't go for it.

I would have the same worries as you, plus the maintenance.

It's hard to really know a basement is completely dry until you actually live in the house.

As for the maintenance, it doesn't have to be maintained if it's not being used, but then there's no point having it in the first place. A friend of mine had a giant hot tub in his basement that was there when he bought the house. However, he doesn't use hot tubs so he just left it empty, so it was just a huge waste of space.

 

[tynopik]

buy it for whether you want it or not

impact on resale will be minimal either way

 

[lxskllr]

I don't like pools, and I hate indoor pools. A pool in a house would be an instant rejection for me, unless you dropped the price enough to cover the removal.

 

[Soundmanred]

It would turn me off to buying the house.

 

[bearxor]

It would be a pretty good point for me. If a house with an endless pool was in my price range, it would definitely jump to the top of the list.

I have a feeling some people here don't know what and endless pool is. It's not really a traditional pool, it's more like an extra large hot tub.

 

[DigDog]

i would love an indoor pool myself; but pools sure drive up the maintenance costs, unless you're ok with emptying it and having your basement be a big hole. it depends on who's buying, really.

 

[Eug]

It would be a pretty good point for me. If a house with an endless pool was in my price range, it would definitely jump to the top of the list.

I have a feeling some people here don't know what and endless pool is. It's not really a traditional pool, it's more like an extra large hot tub.

Yes I am aware it's like a big hot tub. I also think the OP was very smart not to get it because in general in temperate climes, it would be of negative value for the house, as this thread demonstrates.

 

[Sixguns]

That is a pool you do not want to pee in for sure.

 

[biostud]

Also the added humidity would demand for some consideration regarding mold.

 

[cpacini]

I don't get all the hatred for pools...having one is literally the ONLY thing I miss about living in an apartment.

Of course I live in Florida. Is maintenance more difficult/costly up north?

 

[ch33zw1z]

no, I would never even consider buying a house with a pool in the basement.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Also the added humidity would demand for some consideration regarding mold.

exactly. not worth it.

 

[Eug]

I don't get all the hatred for pools...having one is literally the ONLY thing I miss about living in an apartment.

Of course I live in Florida. Is maintenance more difficult/costly up north?

Florida is warm all year round, whereas the (outdoor) swimming season is much shorter up north. Up north you have to drain outdoor pools in the winter, whereas you don't do that in Florida, so maybe maintenance in the north in some ways is both more difficult/costly and less difficult/costly since you're not using it in the winter.

Therefore, people just don't value pools anywhere near as much in the north, so for most people the maintenance outweighs the benefits.

For indoor pools I would guess both are equally difficult to maintain, but regardless if I were in Florida or in NY, I wouldn't have a pool in my basement because of the risk of mold.

BTW, one of the BENEFITS of living in an apartment is having a pool that you don't have to maintain yourself. You just have to find a building that has a pool. And you know what they say about buying a house. If you like pools, it's great to find a house with a neighbour that has a pool.

 

[nageov3t]

not in a basement.

even outdoors, I'd have little interest in a pool just because we're talking about a lot of maintenance/expense for something that will get used for 3 months out of the year.

the only kind of pool I could see myself getting is an in-door, heated pool in some kind of solarium so that I could swim and enjoy the sunlight even in the wintertime, but that would be exorbitantly expensive unless I win the lotto or something.

 

[mmntech]

I don't get all the hatred for pools...having one is literally the ONLY thing I miss about living in an apartment.

Of course I live in Florida. Is maintenance more difficult/costly up north?

You have to drain it every fall and refill them in the spring. Otherwise the water will freeze, and damage the lining and concrete. An expensive repair.

The other problem is despite their high maintenance cost, you can only realistically use an outdoor pool five months out of the year if you're lucky. If I were going to do it, I'd probably build a heated conservatory around it so I could use it year round.

I would probably use a pool a lot. Love swimming but I hate the local public pool. Only two kinds of people there: lots of kids, and these juiced up swimmers that can do three laps to my one. So I'd love to have my own private one. One thing people have to realize though is they're a full time hobby in themselves. You have to be prepared for the expense of it.

 

[Engineer]

Only if it were full of money from day trading! :sneaky:

 

[lxskllr]

I don't get all the hatred for pools...having one is literally the ONLY thing I miss about living in an apartment.

Of course I live in Florida. Is maintenance more difficult/costly up north?

I just don't like them. I don't like swimming in artificial water sources. I prefer rivers and oceans. I like the look of super fancy, not really for swimming pools. The kind with waterfalls, rocks, and plants. If I were rich, and had someone to maintain something like that, I could conceivably see getting one, but if I had that kind of money, I'd just move to the mountains, and have a real creek, with a real waterfall on my property.

 

[Zeze]

Pool in the basement? wtf?

 

[K1052]

I'd say it would be a wash. It would interest some people and turn off others.

The real question is if it appeals to you. They don't have many of the drawbacks of traditional pools that are being lamented in this thread, particularly when put indoors. If I were ever to own a traditional detached home I would be considering it as part of a gym area.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Pool in the basement? wtf?

ballin'