Should I Buy a Swimming Pool in Todays Economy?

By Jim Spiess, www.PoolSchool.us

The question is, should I buy a fiberglass pool when I am not sure of what the economy is going to do? The answer to that question solely rests with you. You are the one that knows your financial situation, how stable is your job, if you have a savings account to fall back on in hard times, and how well  you manage your money. If you have a job that is in a stable field such as law enforcement, doctor, nurse, dentist, dental hygienist, and other areas where economy does not affect you, then you should not have to worry about the economy so much. As far as 401ks go, and the stock market, they should be looked at as long term investments, so the fact that they are down now, 5 years from now they will be back where they should be.  I have found personally that when I buy something I find a way to pay for it, if I couldn't pay for it, then it would reflect in my credit score and I would not be able to finance anything anyway. With so many people being upside down on their homes with equity, it is harder to get a loan for a swimming pool, but not impossible. We still have people buying fiberglass swimming pools, they are just not getting as many options as they use too. But a lot of people are investing in their homes with the addition of a beautiful fiberglass swimming pool with the realization that they are going to be living there longer now than anticipated, and they want their home to be a place they can enjoy inside and out. More people are staying home instead of traveling abroad, and even those that have community pools recognize that your own fiberglass pool is so much better to have. The kids will be at your house where you can watch them and know who their friends are, plus you can swim when you want. Community pools and public pools open on Memorial Day and close on Labor Day, when Mother Nature generally shows she can get hot before Memorial Day and stay hot well after Labor Day. Most of our customers are using their pools 8 months out of the year, maybe not swimming all those months, but barbequing, lighting up the fire pits and just enjoying the backyard as a whole with the pool lights on and the water shimmering. The economy has brought a lot of stress to us and a fiberglass pool can help relieve some of that stress, so yes, buying in a down economy can be good with the right circumstances. One other thing to remember is that conservationist have been getting more and more influential with the government, and pools will be harder and harder to get permits for due to the fact that they are trying to say that pools contribute to the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. This will not only affect people that live near the water, but everyone that lives in the states of Maryland and Virginia. The laws are already on the books that say you cannot cover more than 16% of your property with house, driveways, sidewalks, decks, hot tubs, sheds, garages, pools, or any other structure. They just choose not to enforce these codes in most counties at this time, although there are some counties that do enforce these codes and when someone applies for a permit for a pool in these counties, they have to have a site survey done, an engineered set of plans done and must also ask for a variance. This all adds up to a lot higher cost on the pool if it gets accepted. So fiberglass pools will add value to your home even more so in the future. So is now the time to buy your fiberglass pool?? I think so.

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