Before going ahead with your plans to launch your own swimming pool installation business for residential homeowners, it pays to think as they do. Having a swimming pool installed in a residential property is a significant investment. Therefore, you should find out whether or not homeowners are still, so to speak, diving into signing job orders for it.
Real estate agents have often said that owning a swimming pool sometimes marks down a property’s resell value. Statistics have shown that there has been a decline in swimming pool ownership in the United States over recent years.
This decline in swimming pool ownership can be attributed to the economic recession. Another possible reason that’s driving homeowners in the United States away from the idea of swimming pools is the projected expense and inconvenience of building and maintaining such a substantial addition to their properties.
On the other hand, swimming pool ownership still has its advantages, financial constrictions aside.
The Advantages of Owning a Swimming Pool
Many consider owning a swimming pool a luxury these days, and with good reason. However, there are some good things homeowners get off it.
- Social benefit: Families with kids are likely to enjoy having their own swimming pool. Aside from entertaining visiting friends and family for an enjoyable day in the sun, a house with a swimming pool quickly becomes the “social headquarters” for the kids and their friends. Parents benefit from having a place for their kids to enjoy and develop friendships where they can easily monitor their safety. Some families who used to own a house with a pool then moved to a community with a sports club think their own pool’s privacy is comparatively better.
- Health benefits: Having regular and direct access to a swimming pool means round-the-clock opportunities to stay fit, physically and mentally. Besides having a great place for regular exercise, a private pool can be a great place to relax around, reading a book while lounging under the sun.
- Home improvement: A carefully situated and artfully designed swimming pool can genuinely add character and beauty to an outdoor landscape. As a swimming pool installation service, you should network with professional interior designers as they can hook you up with prospective clients. Infinity pools are superb additions to houses with a view, such as hilltops, mountainsides, or vineyards.
- Installation clearances: Although there are some local limitations, specifications, or restrictions for swimming pool construction, pool builders have found that there, generally, are no governmental impediments to pool projects. Besides needing to consider property lines, fences, and community guidelines, you might need equipment clearances, such as for your excavators, before you can bring them into the construction site. Bringing larger equipment might be overkill, and that’s another logistical nightmare you’ll want to miss. Instead, you can invest in excavators sized around eight feet large for swimming pool construction.
The Disadvantages of Owning a Swimming Pool
While a pool might add more to a homeowner’s quality of living, there are some downsides to adding a swimming pool to their property too.
- High maintenance: The top deal-breaker among many homeowners is the maintenance costs of owning a swimming pool. Almost everyone expects pool design, site preps, and construction contracts to run them a substantial bill. However, people are also looking beyond the installation process and ahead into how much it will potentially cost them to maintain a swimming pool. Aside from the regular upkeep, there will now be added utility consumption such as water and electricity.
- Safety concerns: Homeowners are rightfully concerned about safety issues with having a swimming pool in the house. Most local jurisdictions require locked fencing around a property with a swimming pool to help avoid accidents and intrusion by outsiders. Having a pool on the property, especially when small kids are in the family, will require diligent monitoring.
- Additional insurance costs: The safety concerns with residential swimming pools will typically need a homeowner to pay for supplemental insurance coverage due to the added liability. This is on top of the municipal fencing requirements earlier mentioned.
- Usability: Some homeowners think along the lines of the usability of an in-ground pool. In cold states like Colorado, in-ground pools can only be used for a few months every year. In cold places, the maintenance costs for an in-ground swimming pool outweigh its benefits. Real estate brokers say that many property sellers have bought houses, filled in the swimming pools, and sold the property at higher values.
There is still a good number of homeowners—particularly those with higher disposable income—who believe that the health, social, and aesthetic benefits of owning an in-ground swimming pool are more than enough to compensate for the costs of building and maintaining one. Then again, more people are moving away from the idea of pools because of maintenance, safety, insurance, and usability concerns, especially those that live in colder states. As a pool service entrepreneur, perhaps you might want to broaden your service scope beyond residential and include business locations.
