I’ve posted before about wife and I wanting to downsize our house, blah, blah, blah. We have looked at about twenty houses in the last couple of months and besides all of them being overpriced in today’s market, we can’t stop finding faults in whatever house versus our current home. I get sacrifices are to be made when downsizing and all that but I think we realized we are nowhere near the point of “willing to sacrifice.” So we decided that fuck it we are staying put and let’s forever home this bitch. Plus my neighborhood is very, very pool centric and homes without pools aren’t as hot for resale.
Looking to put in a pool. We didn’t do that upfront when we bought it five years ago because we weren’t planning on staying in this house for more than five years.
I get the pros and cons of the HELOAN vs HELOC but still don’t seem to favor one over the other (besides currently shitty interest rates). Anyone go through the same decision making process and have any advice? Pool build would likely be in the $150K neighborhood and that won’t be anything super fancy. Yes, pools are pricey in my zip code.
I can’t help you with the financing decision, but have you considered a hot tub instead? Much cheaper, much less permanent, a lot easier to maintain, and significantly safer for animals and children.
Plus, aren’t you an accountant by education? Seems I should be asking you this question
I haven’t used either but I war gamed out why I wanted a HELOC in place instead of applying for a loan if we ever wanted to draw on the equity
HELOCs if you don’t draw the whole thing has availability to draw in the future as a revolver.
If your obscenely expensive pool ends up costing 140K instead of 150K you’d still have to pay interest on that 10K whereas for the HELOC you just draw less.
I can’t help you with the financing decision, but have you considered a hot tub instead? Much cheaper, much less permanent, a lot easier to maintain, and significantly safer for animals and children.
Plus, aren’t you an accountant by education? Seems I should be asking you this question
I have a hot tub already. Bullfrog Spa.
I understand the financial pros/cons of each but it’s kind of a coin flip, IMO.
Is the $150k pool going to add $150k of value to the home, or anything close?
Unclear if you have kids, but they seem to be the biggest users of pools. Once grown up then the pools seem to become a giant money and time suck. I see my dad at 80 wheeling large containers of chlorine and frequently doing other tasks for something they never use. It was great in the day but now…
Since HELOCs are generally variable interest rates that is likely a better option in the current climate. A HELOAN would be a fixed rate and rates suck right now. In a couple of years rates could be 2% less which makes the HELOC more attractive. Plus as you mentioned it’s draw as you need as opposed to all of it.
Since HELOCs are generally variable interest rates that is likely a better option in the current climate. A HELOAN would be a fixed rate and rates suck right now. In a couple of years rates could be 2% less which makes the HELOC more attractive. Plus as you mentioned it’s draw as you need as opposed to all of it.
The rate of a HELOC (at least the ones I looked at) are fixed in the date of the draw
Is the $150k pool going to add $150k of value to the home, or anything close?
Unclear if you have kids, but they seem to be the biggest users of pools. Once grown up then the pools seem to become a giant money and time suck. I see my dad at 80 wheeling large containers of chlorine and frequently doing other tasks for something they never use. It was great in the day but now…
100% value? No, but it’s close in my neighborhood. It will bring value to the table when I sell in the future. We are looking at that reason almost as much as having the pool, especially when you put an outdoor kitchen and all that.
I have a 19 year old soon to be college sophomore. So I do get the potential lack of use in the not so distant future. I do like the thought of having my house be the extended family vacation spot and friend hang out. Most of my family lives in upstate NY so my house plus the ocean three miles away attracts family. The thought of that in my head is likely not as good as what the reality would be. I get that.
We had a pool at our house in TX before we moved to FL.
You and your wife should get yourselves on the show, Love It or List It. One spouse wants to remodel and stay in the current home. The other wants to sell and buy something else. And each of the show host / realtors is working with one of the spouses to make the case to List It, or to Love it.
The price of pools has gotten so stupid they make Endless Pools look like a bargain. I’m trying to figure out if I can get an enclosure within the budget to make a pool make sense in Ohio. If I was in Florida it would be an easy decision.
For me, if the pool is the only expense you intend to tap equity to pay for I would look at a loan. But if the pool doesn’t eat up the equity and you may need other money later I would go with a HELOC.
Me? I’m planning to pay for mine with inheritance, I just need to find a long lost rich relative to die. But I have a feeling I may be the one people are waiting on to die in order for them to build a pool, won’t they be disappointed?
I know you said you understand the pros/cons. Will just tell you what I did. We went HELOC to do kitchen and then backyard over years. Finally paid and now it sits there as my in case of emergency/rainy day bail out if needed.
Since HELOCs are generally variable interest rates that is likely a better option in the current climate. A HELOAN would be a fixed rate and rates suck right now. In a couple of years rates could be 2% less which makes the HELOC more attractive. Plus as you mentioned it’s draw as you need as opposed to all of it.
The rate of a HELOC (at least the ones I looked at) are fixed in the date of the draw
Maybe different in Chitown but around here they are all variable.
HELOC. More flexible in the event you spend more or less than anticipated. Interest-only payments are nice if for some reason your short-term financial picture changes. Some (maybe all?) have the option to convert to a fixed loan.
Since HELOCs are generally variable interest rates that is likely a better option in the current climate. A HELOAN would be a fixed rate and rates suck right now. In a couple of years rates could be 2% less which makes the HELOC more attractive. Plus as you mentioned it’s draw as you need as opposed to all of it.
The rate of a HELOC (at least the ones I looked at) are fixed in the date of the draw
Maybe different in Chitown but around here they are all variable.
It’s variable (200 over Prime IIRC) until you draw it then it’s fixed at that rate
Since HELOCs are generally variable interest rates that is likely a better option in the current climate. A HELOAN would be a fixed rate and rates suck right now. In a couple of years rates could be 2% less which makes the HELOC more attractive. Plus as you mentioned it’s draw as you need as opposed to all of it.
The rate of a HELOC (at least the ones I looked at) are fixed in the date of the draw
Maybe different in Chitown but around here they are all variable.
It’s variable (200 over Prime IIRC) until you draw it then it’s fixed at that rate
Must be different there. I have not seen any HELOC’s here that work that way.
Is the $150k pool going to add $150k of value to the home, or anything close?
Unclear if you have kids, but they seem to be the biggest users of pools. Once grown up then the pools seem to become a giant money and time suck. I see my dad at 80 wheeling large containers of chlorine and frequently doing other tasks for something they never use. It was great in the day but now…
100% value? No, but it’s close in my neighborhood. It will bring value to the table when I sell in the future. We are looking at that reason almost as much as having the pool, especially when you put an outdoor kitchen and all that.
I have a 19 year old soon to be college sophomore. So I do get the potential lack of use in the not so distant future. I do like the thought of having my house be the extended family vacation spot and friend hang out. Most of my family lives in upstate NY so my house plus the ocean three miles away attracts family. The thought of that in my head is likely not as good as what the reality would be. I get that.
We had a pool at our house in TX before we moved to FL.
Who cares if it adds value. If you and family will use it. Go for it. Heloc for sure.
Decided on a HELOC. Interest rates stink but it’s variable so hopefully it will go down over time. 10 year draw period, then 20 year repayment.
Had a few pool companies give us consults and quotes. Few more in the next week or so.
40’x15’ rectangle design with a 7’x7’ spa and 7’x7’ sun shelf. Screen enclosure. About 1,200 sqft of paver decking. Raised back side wall with a waterfall but really nothing fancy. By waterfall I mean two 3’ wide slits in the raised wall that water pours out of. No fire bowls, dancing fountains, or rock features.
The four quotes we’ve received so far are between $160-$200K. Fucking ridiculous. But that’s the market here and it likely adds more than that to the value of my home,
My brother goes “What’s a pool like that cost down there? $60-$70K?â€
