Andre1969
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
That's for sure. When I was house hunting the agent tried to show me a couple of houses with pools and I immediately dismissed them. I didn't want either the upkeep or the liability of some neighborhood kid getting in there and drowning. Of course that was in MD, where an in-ground pool can only be used maybe three or four months out of the year.
When I started casually house-hunting back in 2016, initially I had no intention of buying anything with a pool. However, I'd still go to open houses for places that had pools, just to get a feel for the neighborhood, the house itself, etc, to see if there were other features I might like, to consider when it was time to actually buy.
The types of houses I was looking at were all over the map, ranging from around $400K to $800K. For the most part, I was looking for land, like at least an acre, and a yard that lent itself well to building a garage, if the place didn't already have on. Most of these houses weren't in mass-produced subdivisions, so it was a bit difficult to directly compare, but one thing I noticed was that the houses that had pools, didn't really seem any more expensive than those without, all other things being as equal as possible.
So, that opened my mind up, to where decided I'd consider a house with a pool, if I liked everything else about the house. And, that's what I ended up with. Now, I did have to build a garage, but in all fairness, no house would have had the kind of garage I truly wanted already on the premises, so I would have needed to build something, no matter what I bought.
I am in Maryland and yeah, having the pool just sit there, under a tarp for 8 months out of the year does seem kind of like a waste. Especially now that I woke up this morning, to 39 degree temps! But, it sure makes up for it in the summer!
Sometimes I do wish I was in an area with a warmer pool season, and think about people in certain parts of Florida that can keep them open year round. But, my housemate put an interesting perspective on it. He said that if we had it all year round, we'd take it for granted, and it would just feel like no big deal. But only having use of it for part of the year, gives us something to look forward to, and makes it feel more like a special treat.
So, I guess there's a good side to just about everything! It sort of makes me think a bit of when you're still stuck in the working world. When I had to go in the office 5 days a week, I always had that euphoric feeling as I left the parking lot on Friday afternoon. Nowadays, I mostly work from home, and only have to go in on Wednesdays. And I still get that euphoric feeling when I leave out on Wednesday afternoon. So, there is some good that comes, from still working. Still, I'd trade those momentary flare-ups of ecstasy I get from leaving work, for being fully retired!