Kay, you probably don't want to hear this, but as a contractor in Las Vegas, we are seeing a huge downturn in business. We see businesses these days going out by the day, it is scary to say the least. While Vegas is so unique, it is also the home of the smart big business money. When the big boys here pull off major multi million dollar projects, us little guys listen. So you have a good job today, maybe not tomorrow. Even the dentists doctors accountants are worried, insurance is shaking in their boots. So you don't build right now, I lived in SD for 10 years, you won't use the pool this year anyway. Maybe take a few days or months to think about what you are spending versus an immediate dig in your yard. I did see your post with your design and it is gorgeous, but honestly if I still lived there, and I have family that still do, I would pull the plug right now. Just my honest opinion, sorry to the pool builders in SD. I can tell you we here are all holding our breath right now. I deal with a lot of out of town clients, second homes, and the rest of the country is in a holding pattern as well. Hope this helps and best of luck with your decisions, Barb

I am certainly not a financial planner and have no crystal ball as to what is going to happen. However, I will say that the above post demonstrates a big problem with the economy right now. Lack of consumer confidence.

Taking money and putting it under the mattress rather than putting it back into the economy in a large scale is what will certainly cause or prolong any pending recession or downturn.

I believe we are in a much needed adjustment due to the insane mortgage lending that has been taking place for years. The retail brokerage firms went right from the dot com craze and bust to the mortgage craze and now that that has fallen, there's really nowhere else to turn.

If all consumers stop doing anything and holding their breath, we will not be able to turn this thing around. This may sound crazy, but if you are not feeling the economy crunch right now and can afford to do so, building your pool now, may just allow your PB to stay in business and their subs and workers to keep food on the table during these hard times.

off my soap box...

Agree with el duderino. If you have the money and are in good shape with your home finances....spend the money on the pool and enjoy....knowing you will be helping the economy at the same time!

Kay,

We started thinking about a pool last fall, but my husband was concerned back then about where the economy was headed, so we put it on hold. He's in the insurance industry, and has been predicting this financial crisis for a long time. All he kept saying was "people don't know how bad it really is". Anyway, late this summer, he said "ok, let's look at the pool again". We interviewed several PB's, found what we think is a really good one, and the day we're going to sign the contract (last Monday), the economy takes a nosedive!! I thought for sure my husband would pull the plug, but crazy as it sounds, we are still proceeding with the pool - gave the PB a deposit last Wednesday. I have to say I was/am a little nervous, but we have thought very carefully about this and it doesn't really change our financial picture. And, I'd like to think in our own small way we're helping the economy.

Good Luck.

Ironically a depressed economy is the perfect time to build a house, do an addition, build a pool, etc. You should be able to negotiate the best possible price and the crews doing the work will have fewer distractions (not as busy as they might normally be). You have to be careful though, these are precarious times and a lot of contractors are struggling to stay afloat, especially PBs. I would demand a performance bond in times like this for sure.

Now all of that said, you know your finances better than us. While the economy does need people like you to keep it running, you have to think of yourself. Make sure you've got enough money in reserve to keep yourself going for quite sometime if you or your spouse should lose your jobs. Frankly I would have to agree with your husband and with Airborne, I personally would wait at least 6 months to see how things are going to shake out, the markets are in serious turmoil and if the government doesn't play this hand right we could be headed for some very serious trouble. I'm optimistic, but cautious :-)

We were in a similiar situation this year when we built our pool. We had the cash to build the pool and still have a cushion in our emergency savings. We live in an area that took the hardest real estate hit this year. We even made it into the New York Times because our housing market dropped so fast and so low. We sat back and thought about whether it would be wise to put in a pool with housing values going down. However, we decided that we bought our house before the market went up so we had a little equity left and we weren't pulling more out to put a pool in since we were paying cash. We also figured that we aren't planning on selling, but staying here long term. We also looked at the fact that my husband has a good union job with senority and it would keep us home more rather than going elsewhere to cool off in the summer. We put it in and we are feeling very good about it even though the economy has taken a turn for the worst. We got a great deal on our pool, driveway extension and tile/counter work on our home because the housing market was so low that these contractors were handing out great deals. In my opinion, if you can swing it, this is a great time to get great deals on home improvements. The prices will go up later when the market recovers.

I went through the same thing, Im in S Florida in the construction industry with a good but insecure job due to the market and my wife is an RN. I have a good cushion in savings and saved cash for the pool above and beyond this so I went for it. My house has little to no equity anymore but I bought it as a place to live with my family and not as an investment (there are better places with better ROI's to put your money). Anyways, I felt your pain but decided you have to keep living your life, I have been responsible with money and if things went really south I would be ok. If it got to the point that I burned all of my savings and was flat broke, most others around me would be in way worse shape and at that point noone would care about the pool anymore. This economy is going to be crap for a long while, you might as well enjoy what you can and not be too scared about it. If you have the cash, go for it.

My hubby had the same problem but we talked about it and our logics was lets just do it. National Pools built ours in houston. I am so happy and in the coming weeks i cannot wait to get into my spa. Good Luck!!!

Kay:

Think of it this way: You've done your homework and know exactly what you want. You have a PB that you have confidence in and also have the money set aside. A swimming pool is not an expense as much as it is an investment in your home and lifestyle. I.e. the money will still be there via the equity in your house. In addition, there is a "double dividend" in that you get to enjoy it while it appreciates. If you have kids, all the more reason to give them a childhood full of great swimming memories.

We had the same concerns, now we have a great backyard with a beautiful pool in San Diego. Our kids love it and love being here with us and their friends. Who could ask for more than that?

I am not in the swimming pool industry, but I did stay at resort last night where I also happen to live (not a Holiday Inn Express ;>)

Rick

Kay:

Here are some pictures of our pool.

Rick

Here is a link that might be useful: Pool Pictures

Thanks everyone for the comments. I guess we are just going to keep the discussion going. Everyone has good points so I just need to relax and let DH work this out in his mind (I guess).

Rick, your pool is lovely! Your spa looks like ours will. What color is the pool surface? Is it Pebble Tec! I love it. I want to crawl into my spa sooooo badly right now. SIGH, SIGH, SIGH.

K

It's called Gemstone Tiger's Eye Lagoon in sandstone.

I get the feeling you'll win this one. Keep us posted on how it's going.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pool Surface Finish

Kay I thought I'd throw this out there............ when we signed contract on our pool we got a great deal. Why? We researched thru Oct to Dec and signed contract on Dec 30. Salesman wanted one more pool for the year and discounted it right there on the spot, we couldn't pass it up.We didnt intend to sign that day. Our pool was done by April 15 as they started in mid Jan. Waiting just a few months will put the election behind us and MAY give an indication of what the financial picture holds for us. Hope this helps. Barb

For what it's worth, there will always be something. It's a huge purchase. That's true.

For me it will cost more than any car I've ever bought. So it's not to be entered into lightly, unless your a Rockafeller or something.

But if you have saved the funds and can get the PB to cut some slack, and you really want a pool. Then you shouldn't let the lousy economy stop you.

Maybe DH isn't as convinced that he really wants a pool. His warning about the economy may be just an excuse, so he doesn't have to say to you that he's figured out that he's not into it as much as you.

Perhaps a frank talk is in order. Maybe a compromise (hot tub) or extra travel can be ironed out. If you really want the pool be prepared with a budget and your incomes to show how you can afford it.

Airborne,

Thanks for the great suggestion. I think the timing of starting in January and being done in April or May is perfect. I am not in a huge rush since we clearly missed swim season this year. Grea suggestion to wait till the end of the year. It doesn't rain much here in San Diego so I am not as worried about the weather delays.

nutbunch, I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't think DH is really 100% committed. He wants the pool but has his doubts (mostly our 3 1/2 year old still can't swim well and he is worried about the safety). I am ok waiting too. For now. But I want one by next summer no matter what! So we need a heart to heart too.

rickinSD, we are using Gemstone too. The color is gorgeous. What part of SD are you in? We are close to Del Mar and would love to see some pools with Gemstone in it. Your color is just as I would want it! How do you like the surface and the cleaning/maintenance?

K

Kay:

We are in the northwest corner of Clairemont, on the canyon that borders Clairemont Drive/Regents Rd and Hwy 52.

We went with Gemstone because we liked the look and wanted the durability (lasts at least twice as long as plaster.)

Thanks to thoughtful design, high quality construction and modern technology (not so much our choice of surfaces) the maintenance has been a breeze. The Intellichlor SWG makes the chlorine, the Navigator picks up the debris, the solar provides the heat, the Intellitouch runs the equipment and the kids take care of the rest. Collectively, this requires less than an hour a week and the pool is the perfect temp and crystal clear, and I'm not just saying this to offset recent events with the economy!

As I recall, you had also asked about the BADU jet in an earlier post. We have one of these and love it.

If you and DH would like to see our pool, let me know and we can arrange a time for you to visit. I am out of town on business quite a bit and my wife and I are busy with kids' activities, etc, but we will be happy to show you our pool and answer any questions.

Rick

Rick,

We would LOVE to see your pool. And the Badu jet too! It's very generous of you to offer. Could you email me? I'm at crystalbythecove at hotmail dot com.

Thanks!

Kay:

Did you get my email?

Rick

No! I hate hotmail. Try katlud at gmail dot com.

Thanks! K

We put our pool in about six months ago and are wishing like you wouldn't believe, that we wouldn't have.

I'm a realtor and my husband owns a home inspection business. We feel like we're at the very top of the economic pain chain right now. First we had Hurricane Ike and no power for two weeks, then went straight into the 24/7 news coverage about how bad our economy is.

Houston weathered the original mortgage crisis really well. Our market didn't take a hit like the others did. But now, my husband hasn't gotten a call since before Hurricane Ike. That's almost a month. He never used to go more than two days.

We can't tell what's hurricane related, or what's fear related right now. My work has stayed pretty much the same, because I'm in the foreclosure industry. Because of the path I've chosen, his inspection business is the bulk of our income. (He's also a career firefighter, but it'll be extremely tight living off of that.)

I look in my backyard and I love what I see, but I definitely do not like the fact that I ate up a huge portion of my equity when I put it in. Worst case for us, we might very well have to sell our house in the near future, and when/if we do, we're going to take a hit that we wouldn't have taken prior to the pool.

The only way I'd put one in right now, is by paying cash only. No way, no how, would I finance one and eat into my equity. And I would do neither if my job wasn't secure. Just a thought.

So sorry to hear you're having a work slowdown, I'm afraid many of us will be joining you shortly. We paid cash for our pool and if I could rewind to January I would keep that cash in the bank until this unprecedented financial storm blows over. I can't believe how much things have deteriorated just since this thread started a couple of weeks ago. On the one hand the nation needs people now more than ever to buy products and services, but on the other hand we all as individual families have to be prepared for the worst. I'm sure that as a nation we'll come out the other side of this with stronger economic fundamentals, but there could be a long, ugly road to travel before we get there.

To respond to tresw, how true. Kat this thread is so timely now. No matter where you are in the US , I have to say, consumer confidence is down and we are in for a pullback in spending. I believe there will be a domino effect and I would never build a major project now. We are in Vegas, the capital of spending, and we are seeing a major STOP on big projects here. I won't even bid on a minor one now, no sense wasting the time to bid, it won't get financed. We deal with consumers from all over the world, I would hold for now. Hope this helps, b

Thanks for the replies! How true that since my original post, things have gotten about 10 times worse! Not only am I worried now too (I wasn't a few weeks ago) but I am not also concerned that I just don't know if our PB will go out of business in the middle of it all and leave us with a dirt hole! It seems like all of the PBs are hurting soooo much, just like our realtors, sales folks, etc. It's very sad. I am now completely with DH in that we need to wait. Perhaps at the end of the year we can get a better deal too. But even then, I am frankly not sure we want to spend this much money on such a luxury item!

Funny how a little time can change all of our perspectives. We have the cash earmarked but I just don't feel safe enough to let it go at this point. Heck, I am not sure I feel safe leaving it in the bank even!!

Katherine

After I posted that, work all of the sudden picked up. Right now, we're thinking the slowdown must've been hurricane related (CenterPoint wasn't turning on new service, transferring service, etc., because of a backlog). It's been a mess here since Ike.

We're hoping and praying that Houston's housing industry can hang on, and by all accounts, it still is. The oil industry here, and the fact that Houston never had the inflated housing prices, has helped us so far. Our foreclosure rates are also lower than most of the nation.

Would I buy a house right now? Absolutely; this is a great time to be a buyer, if you can sell your existing home. Would I do anything optional, such as remodeling, etc.? That's another story. I would love to support the economy and the industry as much as the next guy, but only you know your financial situation and what's prudent.

For now, we're waiting for the other shoe to drop, and if it never happens, I'll be forever grateful!