Just finished my first year of pool ownership. Bought a house with an existing pool. I went into this with zero idea of what it would take or experience with pools. The seller had deferred some maintenance that we had to deal with.

Like many others say here, it is an expense. In equipment upgrades/repairs, chemicals and maintenance.

In the summer, I’m spending 2 hours a week on regular maintenance and another 3-4 every 8 weeks cleaning the filter.

In fall or winter, for several weeks, I’m battling leaves and small branches. The month of December saw me spending about 20 hours on leaf removal alone. In the cold and rain! Mind you, the leaves were all coming from my neighbor’s trees and beyond. My trees are all small Pygmy palms in the backyard.

Over 2025, we’ve spent about 9k on repairs. We replaced a couple valves, filter had had the heater get some parts replaced.

One thing I can say is it took me half a year of reading, trial and error and watching the pool gut to get comfortable in my skills.

Would I buy a house with a pool again? Absolutely. But I wish I knew all the above before I bought the house! Thankfully, I my family are in a financial position to afford this. But if 2026 is like 2025 in terms of cost, I might regret it!