[jerseynurse]

I've been looking at homes to buy and was curious if anyone has had any experience with this. How long does to take to fill an average sized currently empty pool? Can the extreme weather out here do damage to the pool? I cant tell from the picture of the home I am interested in if the pool is concrete or not. The "tub" of it appears white. I dont want to waste a realtor's time if empty pools are a big "no no".
Also, thoughts on REOs vs. short sales also appreciated. Thanks.

[007 license to sell]

Originally Posted by jerseynurse

I've been looking at homes to buy and was curious if anyone has had any experience with this. How long does to take to fill an average sized currently empty pool? Can the extreme weather out here do damage to the pool? I cant tell from the picture of the home I am interested in if the pool is concrete or not. The "tub" of it appears white. I dont want to waste a realtor's time if empty pools are a big "no no".
Also, thoughts on REOs vs. short sales also appreciated. Thanks.

You should contact a pool company and ask your question. Pools aren't suppose to sit empty the earth around it will eventually start pushing in the walls of the pool. The water in the pool keeps this from happening.

Also whatever you offer on you need to get a inspection and make sure that the inspector is qualified when it comes to the pool or it could cost you allot of money. As far as how much it cost to fill our 15,000 gal pool just cost $75.00 to fill after we had it cleaned. Water is cheap here and it shouldn't be. It took a day to fill the pool. Good luck with your search

[olecapt]

It is included in the home inspection by most good inspectors. Note though that it is hard to tell the condition of an empty pool. Problems are often in the plumbing or in the equipment. You can do the obvious...most failures of the actual pool are pretty visible. Presume pumps and heaters are dead and will need to be replaced for budgeting purposes.

There are also good pool resources around as 007 suggests. Use them.

Takes a day to fill one up generally. Under $100.

[KonaKat]

We bought a pre-foreclosure back in, 2000 I think it was, in Las Vegas. A big concrete pool with spa, had been empty for a few months. We had a pool contractor inspect it, and he said that it appeared just some cosmetic small cracks here and there as far as he could tell. The only real test he explained (unless it was caving in or something) was to fill it and see what happened. So, we bought the place and hired him to clean it, acid wash, all that stuff and turned on the water! (all the equipment worked fine thank God). We never had one bit of leakage or problem with it.

So, hire a pool contractor because most inspectors are not experts in anything really, beyond what is blatantly obvious. They're not going to fill the pool and test the equipment so nothing they said could be all that accurate. They would just have to go on what they can tell by looking, such as huge cracks or whatnot.

Hope it turns out well for you. I sure loved that pool!

[jerseynurse]

Thanks, KonaKat, good advice! Glad it worked out for you!

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by KonaKat

We bought a pre-foreclosure back in, 2000 I think it was, in Las Vegas. A big concrete pool with spa, had been empty for a few months. We had a pool contractor inspect it, and he said that it appeared just some cosmetic small cracks here and there as far as he could tell. The only real test he explained (unless it was caving in or something) was to fill it and see what happened. So, we bought the place and hired him to clean it, acid wash, all that stuff and turned on the water! (all the equipment worked fine thank God). We never had one bit of leakage or problem with it.

So, hire a pool contractor because most inspectors are not experts in anything really, beyond what is blatantly obvious. They're not going to fill the pool and test the equipment so nothing they said could be all that accurate. They would just have to go on what they can tell by looking, such as huge cracks or whatnot.

Hope it turns out well for you. I sure loved that pool!

Actually the inspector will pretty much tell you exactly the same thing as the pool contractor...and he probably knows the subject as well or better. Pool contractors don't actually see as many pools as good inspectors.

It also can pay to ask...often a seller will fill the pool or let you do so. It is a chore if the pool is full of gunk but otherwise doable.

[yellowsnow]

When I bought mine, the pool was full but the plaster was flaking and old. You could tell just by looking. I redid mine completely along with the rest of the backyard. I figured the pump was old and inefficient and needed to be replaced anyway.

It was nasty work and a real mess. But it had to be done.