Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

We want a pool so let me state that first. And we love the house….

Looking at a house that has an unground pool that is so large it's actually ridiculous. Takes up most of the usable yard space behind the house (aside from patios). We do want a pool so that's not the issue, it's just the size of it. I mean it's almost hotel sized. There was no need for such a large pool, especially to take away all other possibilities for something behind the home (grass, playset, etc). It's bad enough you have to see it covered much of the year, now it's giant too and it's visible from the kitchen.

If you wanted a pool and you loved the actual house, would the size be enough of a deal breaker for you?

Message edited 7/1/2014 12:09:16 PM.

Re: Buying a home with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Yes, it is & has been a deal breaker for us. We actually looked at a great house but the yard was all pool. My kids love the pool but they also love chasing each other & rolling around in the grass, playing ball. The pool is great for 3 months out of the year but they wouldn't have been able to play back there the rest of the year.

Re: Buying a home with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

absolutel - the cost to make it smaller is probably MORE than putting in a new pool in a home that doesn't already have one

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

edited to add that we love the house

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

If I loved the house and wanted a pool I'd probably deal with the size.

We HATE having the maintenance of the yard.

And I'm wondering how big it actually is. We had a 20x40 growing up and it wasn't that big

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Backyards like that were definitely a deal breaker for us! I have a 2 year old and want her to have a backyard she can play in and have a swing set. We turned away from a home we really loved because of the backyard.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

We looked in areas with relatively small plots (60x100 was typical) and while a pool would have been nice if we had a larger yard, we looked for houses without pools because we wanted a grass yard for kids to play. Pools were a dealbreaker for us for this reason. My parents live on a 60x100 property and have a large but not overly large pool, but no grass -- its basically just pool, fence, and patio area. Our yard is all grass and a deck which has its pros and cons (and we have access to my parents pool).

It's tough though if you want a pool and otherwise love the house. I guess you need to think about whether its worth giving up a yard for. Do you have a front yard? Are you near a park?

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

We saw houses that backyards were all pool and it was a deal breaker.

We actually have a pretty large yard by LI standards and are very pleased with that.

Eventually we may consider a pool, but of our choosing.

On the flip, I would be concerned about the cost of pool maintenance, how it adds to utility bill, etc.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

All pool then yes it would be a dealbreaker. I would want at least some yard space for my LO to play.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

I think this really has to do with your personal taste and wants in a yard. For me, I would never want a pool that took up all or most of my back yard. I like grass too much for that. I would want AT LEAST half grass, half pool, ideally much more than half the yard grass though. I would pass up this house unless you are willing to pay $$$ to have the pool filled in or somehow made smaller.

Obviously, this is not how all people feel. I know several people who have a pool that takes up their entire back yard. They installed it with that intent, clearly they are more than ok with this. It's really just all about what you want.

The only concern I would have aside from your personal preference is potential resale issues. From what I understand, a pool is not really a positive when selling a house and I would imagine that it taking up the entire yard would be an even bigger con.

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

I would not want the pool to take up the whole yard.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

I think if you lived in FL or somewhere warm, you could justify it saying you will use it all the time. Seeing how here, the pool will be closed and covered the majority of the time, and I could see myself getting annoyed in the fall or spring when I want my kids to go out and play and the backyard doesn't have the space,then yes for me I could see it being a deal breaker.

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

we have a too-big front yard bc we are on a semi- main road. and then the back is 1/2 pool, 1/2 yard. the yard is too small. the pool is normal-sized. i'd prefer a different layout but oh well!

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

For me, deal breaker for sure, especially here on LI. As many people pointed out, pool season is like 3 months out of the year! Not worth it, IMO.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

#firstworldproblems

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

We did not walk away from a house, we ran. Then again, depends on your life style. This house was in the right town, quiet block, and had features we loved but the deal breaker was the pool and lack of yard.

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

I wouldn't want that...

Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

Will this be your forever home? While I totally understand that a big yard is great for kids, it's only used by them until maybe about 12 years old if you're lucky. Then for the rest of your life in that house you'll have all that yard to maintain and keep up with whether someone is using it or not. In the end thought it's really a personal decision and everyone will have a different answer and reasoning.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

If I didn't want the pool and I had the $$ to get rid of it, then yes I would buy it.

If I wanted a pool, then I would suck it up and deal with the big pool.

So yes, I'd buy the house if it's otherwise perfect.

Message edited 7/4/2014 5:00:44 PM.

Re: Buying a home you love, but with a ridiculously large pool? deal breaker?

I can't say for sure. Depends on many things.