If you are swimming enthusiast or you just love to swim for exercises, and you are shopping for a house then you must be considering buying one with a swimming pool. Unfortunately, most people just decide to buy a home with a swimming pool, and they fail to do due diligence. They do not ask all the right questions and find out all there is to know about the swimming pool. So before you sign the check and transfer the deed, here as some few things you should know.
Cost of Maintenance
Pool maintenance costs vary greatly depending on the size of the pool and the personal preference of the pool owner. The average cost, however, can range from 100 dollars per week for clean up, then add pump and filter maintenance, pool chemicals to 1000 dollars per year for the same. It can be expensive to maintain especially if your income stream is not steady. A thing with swimming pools is you cannot skimp since failure to do scheduled maintenance will eventually turn it into a swamp. However, you can save a few bucks if you can do it yourself instead of engaging a professional. You do not want to buy a beautiful home with a good swimming pool only for the pool to become a swamp because you could not maintain it. So ask before you buy how much it will cost you monthly.
Pool safety
If you have children, then, pool safety should be on the top of your to-do list. You would need to invest in pool alarms, door alarms, fencing, and offer your children swimming lessons. Children are playful, and it's close to impossible to keep them from horsing around. So it is up to you to ensure that their safety comes first. Before you purchase the house find out if the pool meets the safety standards threshold. If it does not, you have to take make sure that you understand the costs of creating a safe environment. Homes being sold by the elderly or young singles might have pool designs that are not childproof. It can be hard to narrow your search down to relevant experts if you are looking online. A useful tip is to search local. If you reside in the Florida area, for example, you can look for affordable pool designs in Naples to aid in pool design improvements and meet the child-proof design threshold. You should never compromise on the safety of your children to matter what. If you have found your dream house, then initiate child proofing exercise right away.
Recent Repairs and Inspection
Since you are buying a used swimming pool, it would be prudent to know when the last repairs were performed. Remember you did not buy it so you might be buying a pool that is on the brink of breaking down or some parts are not fully functioning. Asking this information can save you a lot of money; supposedly you bought a pool which then breaks down and stops operating a few months after the purchase. You will be forced to make major repairs to the pool, sometimes before you even use it. If the last repairs were made years ago, if ever, then you would need to have a professional pool technician inspect it and inform you on the general health of the pool. You will have protected your investment in the end. You should also ask for the pool inspection certificate; it should tell you if the pool has a good standing and or if it has ever been inspected.
If you find your dream house also has a swimming pool, don't be scared. Maintenance can be cheap especially if you are doing it yourself. You should ask the owner to talk through your safety concerns with you. If you do not receive a conclusive answer, you can decide to outsource a pool expert to give you an expert opinion. Consider all the aspects that would concern you and don't shy away from asking, it could save you a lemon purchase. Identify other things that you should know other than the ones discussed here.
