Home Purchase - Pool or No Pool in the Desert

[Rowdy]

Hello All,

We are looking to purchase our retirement home in the Palm Springs area this summer. We have vacationed there several times and always enjoy sitting by the pool, especially on hot summer days.

Questions:
1) Do you regret having or not having a pool and spa? This question is especially for those living in the Palm Springs area or other desert/hot climates (e.g. Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.).
2) Thoughts on having a pool and spa installed after home purchase vs buying an existing home with pool in order to let someone else pay for the high cost of installation? Typical cost of pool with spa installation?
3) Cost for heating? FYI, the desert can get quite cool at night in winter, requiring heating in order to use.
4) Anyone use solar pool heating?

Many thanks!

[Bamaman]

We put in a fiberglass pool this Spring after buying the home October, 2019. If we lived in the desert like Palm Springs, we'd certainly appreciate having a pool.

You would do better to buy a home with an existing swimming pool--letting the other owners take the depreciation and frustrations of construction. Digging a pool puts out a mountain of dirt.

Our pool is not heated as we don't intend to swim past September. So I have no idea what it takes to heat such a pool. I'd have to refer you to a good pool contractor about that subject.

[Starsky]

Questions:

Quote:

1) Do you regret having or not having a pool and spa? This question is especially for those living in the Palm Springs area or other desert/hot climates (e.g. Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.).

You won't regret it in Palm Springs. Most homes have pools and many are made into beautiful outdoor entertainment areas with a 'beach' and lounging areas - with lights, BQQs and decorative/functional gas flames. If you only want to use a pool infrequently, you can live in a place with a community pool and gym that will be open year-round. Those are very common.

Quote:

2) Thoughts on having a pool and spa installed after home purchase vs buying an existing home with pool in order to let someone else pay for the high cost of installation? Typical cost of pool with spa installation?

It probably depends on the house and the pool. I've seen homes with some very nice pools in the Springs. It's kinda their thing. No idea of costs these days. The features and designs are endless.

Quote:

3) Cost for heating? FYI, the desert can get quite cool at night in winter, requiring heating in order to use.

No heating required in the summer. Your pool will be 100 degrees all the time. That's why a lot of them have waterfalls to help circulate and cool the water in the summer. In the winter, most people just use their jacuzzis unless they like to swim laps. Energy costs to heat a pool can be high, unless you have solar panels and an electric heater. You'll also use more water since evaporation is high in the summer.

Quote:

4) Anyone use solar pool heating?

Yes. For us, it works great in the summer but not in the winter. The angle of the sun changes during the year, and solar is only good for the part of the year that gets the direct sunlight. In the desert, you could set it up for the winter instead. I have no idea how it would do in the winter against the cold nights.

[idledancer]

1) Do you regret having or not having a pool and spa?

In the desert? Absolutely do not regret it. April through October it’ll be your only form of outdoor recreations. Do it. Our friends without pools get depressed in the summer, like people in cold climates get in the winter.

2) Thoughts on having a pool and spa installed after home purchase vs buying an existing home

Buy it with the home. This is not an exaggeration: A $40k pool adds about $10k to home value. Let someone else pay for it.

3) Cost for heating? FYI, the desert can get quite cool at night in winter, requiring heating in order to use

The desert gets cold, your pool is 10-30k gallons of water, it does not cool down much over night. But, see below.

4) Anyone use solar pool heating?

Solar heating, the sort that pumps it up to tubes in your roof will let you swim 10 months of the year. It’s worth every penny. You’re paying to run your pump whether you’re swimming or not, might as well make your pool swimmable as much of the year as possible.

[ProspectiveBum]

I don't live in Palm Springs, but we've vacationed there every year for ~15 years, and I would definitely not buy a home there without a pool. My guess is that it'd be cheaper to buy a home with an in-ground pool and spa already installed, vs putting one in. Installation costs can run from 40k on the very low-end all the way up to 6 figures for something really fancy.

[Koolau]

Little sister had a pool in Phoenix. It was a money pit and was out of service more than in. The pool cover did preserve a fair amount of heat when they used it. YMMV

[pjigar]

We are in Dallas, Texas and have had pool+spa installed for about 40K. We thought we will use it with young kids which was true for first 4 years. Now pool is just an additional chore I have to do. I can't wait to sell this house and be done with the pool. On the other hand, my friend is on his 3rd house with pool and uses the pool at least 3 times a week. So pool is really a personal decision. Know your personality and you will know the right answer.

[ShokWaveRider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rowdy Questions: 1) Do you regret having or not having a pool and spa? This question is especially for those living in the Palm Springs area or other desert/hot climates (e.g. Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.). 2) Thoughts on having a pool and spa installed after home purchase vs buying an existing home with pool in order to let someone else pay for the high cost of installation? Typical cost of pool with spa installation? 3) Cost for heating? FYI, the desert can get quite cool at night in winter, requiring heating in order to use. 4) Anyone use solar pool heating?

1) We do not regret having a pool, but will not have one again if/when we move.

2) Ours were already in place.

3) The Heavens heat our pool for the months when we would ever consider using it.

4) N/A

[Ian S]

Lived in Phoenix for over 30 years in a patio home complex that had a pool. Had we stayed in Phoenix and purchased a single family home, we probably would have opted for one without a pool. Maintenance costs are significant and we found we didn't really use the pool that much. The summer months in Phoenix were simply too hot during the day for us to enjoy it more than a few times a month - usually when folks visited. Where we now live in red rock country, pools are uncommon and we haven't missed a it one bit.

[Tadpole]

I would only have one if I could afford a pool service to care for it.

[pacergal]

No pool, but a spa/hot tub. Loved and used it daily at first, for many years.
Then kids grew up, DH and I used it less and less.
Maintainance became a chore, and eventually we just drained it and left it alone for several years. Finally got rid of it.

[Aerides]

I regret waiting so long to add a pool to my home in S Fla, so I went to contract on one recently and they should break ground any day now. Even when it's too cold to swim it will look nice and I will enjoy the view.

If I moved I would at least want room for a pool, and while it's definitely cheaper to buy a home with an existing pool it's not always going to be to my taste. Kinda like viewing a home with a recent renovation and you see a kitchen that's all fancy and new but you hate it.

The pool I'm having built will be a salt system which won't require a pool service. It still has maintenance costs, but it won't go green if I leave it for two weeks, etc.

I didn't add a heater. I'm in S Fla, so I know it will be too cold for a swim for a least 1/3 of the year. But we visited a hotel with a heated pool in Tucson one November. It was just barely warm enough to lie in the sun, but the "heated" pool still wasn't all that warm.

[Koolau]

Slightly off topic, though Leeward is almost desert. Our bldg. has a pool. It's open year round. Far fewer than 10% of residents use it - ever. I think DW used it twice in 10 years - me never. So, we were all whining at the annual HOA meeting about the dues rates going up - again (way more than inflation.) SO, I casually mentioned how much we spent on our pool for the dozen people that use it. You would have thought I'd thrown a Baby Ruth in the pool. I haven't brought it up again, though my feelings have not changed. Those who like having a pool would kill to have one - or especially KEEP one when maintained by everyone else (but I'm not bitter. ). The rest of us seem to take them or leave them but YMMV.

[Bamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides I regret waiting so long to add a pool to my home in S Fla, so I went to contract on one recently and they should break ground any day now. Even when it's too cold to swim it will look nice and I will enjoy the view. The pool I'm having built will be a salt system which won't require a pool service. It still has maintenance costs, but it won't go green if I leave it for two weeks, etc.

The salt water system will still require a bag of Shock once every 10 days or so to stop the green. A saltwater pool has a much better feel to the water and your skin will feel much better. It's almost like having epsom salts in the water because any pains in you have will feel better.

[Katsmeow]

We are in Texas.

1 - We are in our third house with a pool. We had a house without a pool in between as DH didn't want the upkeep of a pool. When we moved this last time, pools were very common where we were looking and holding out for no pool would have significantly cut down on houses we could consider (about 80% had pools). I like having a pool though. Even DH admits it is nice. We did convert it to salt water soon after moving in.

2. The first pool we had we built. We financed it as part of the purchase of the house. That was a long time ago. I think a similar pool know would be $75k or so. Advantage of building your own pool is you get what exactly what you want. We didn't want a diving pool and wanted a beautiful rock waterfall and had a built in spa. I loved that pool. But -- really expensive to do that as a retiree.

Pool 2 was a house that did have a diving pool. Having a diving board caused one insurance company to turn us down so we removed the board. The pool was very basic. No spa, no diamond brite finish, etc. I hardly ever used that pool and didn't like how it looked (very blah and the most basic deck, etc)

Pool 3 - A step up from Pool 2. Does have a spa which I like. Pool layout was one I liked better. It was a 20+ year old pool when we bought it and we spent several thousand dollars in the first 2 years converting it to salt water (so worth it), getting better controls for the spa system and replacing components on their last legs. We will need to replaster soon (will probably get a diamond brite finish then) and replace the tile and coping. Once that is done it will be very nice. Not as nice as the first pool...but we didn't have to build this one.

We used a service for awhile but with the salt water we don't really need one. We might do one again someday.

3. We don't usually heat our pool as we don't swim in winter. We can do it, but we don't. The only thing we use heat for is the spa. The pool heater is the only thing that uses natural gas on our property. The cost of heating the spa is not a big deal.

[iloveyoga]

We live in Iowa and put in a pool three years ago. So far my only regret is that we did not do it earlier. We both love it and used it every day we could. It is a little pricey to heat it, we have a gas pool heater. We have a salt system and it is very easy to maintain. I do that part, with no problem at all. We also have an automated cover which is needed in our yard as we have many trees.

[idledancer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman The salt water system will still require a bag of Shock once every 10 days or so to stop the green. A saltwater pool has a much better feel to the water and your skin will feel much better. It's almost like having epsom salts in the water because any pains in you have will feel better.

Something is wrong with your water balance if you’re needing to shock any pool every ten days. A properly balanced pool never needs to be shocked. Salt especially, owing to the very evenly dispersed chlorine, should almost never need to be shocked. I’ve had a salt pool for over a decade, I can count the number of times I’ve shocked it on one hand.

My guess is that your PH is too high, or unstable due to high total alkalinity. In some areas this is due to high calcium content of the fill water. If your fill water isn’t softened in hard water areas you’ll likely need to drain and fill every few years as maintaining PH becomes very difficult when calcium hardness rises over 500ppm. If you’re in an area with 300ppm fill water, that’ll happen pretty quick.

[JP.mpls]

Rowdy,
I've vacationed there a half dozen times, and almost bought a place there. I think you are going to really like it.
I consider a pool a must, and for sure in Palm Springs.
I decided on a townhome in a community with a maintained pool and grounds. Mostly, because I plan on snowbirding.

A comment about owning a pool:
I have a cousin nearby in Naples, and she has a pool. She said if they have guests for a long weekend in the winter, and decide to heat the pool, it will cost over $500 to heat it over that time. That doesn't include all the maintenance. That made me think twice about owning and maintaining a pool.

Take care, JP