Not really...but okay...There was a mention of "wildlife" moving in...so I assumed living frogs, tadpoles, possible turtles and such would add to the balance? I just disasembled my "water garden" just 500 gallons with Only potted Cannas, and blue eyed grass (NO FISH), no soil just gravel and lava rock, and filtered... The water was very Clear...no algae except the carpet on the sides....but there was at least 4" of silt in the bottom after just 1 year....I can't imagine what a full size pool would have in it after 5 years or so, as I assume the plan isn't to drain and clean yearly, but that is my assumption.. I have been known to be wrong before...so looking forward to see how it turns out! Personally...I love my ponds way more than the swimming pool...so I'm supportive of the change over...Sorry if I ruffled any feathers...I for one just like to collect all data out there good and bad before I dive into something...Just helps to prepare me for worse case scenarios..I hope it turns out just as you like...I have not met anyone yet that hasn't given into the urge to get bigger fish..when they get a bigger pond :) Just usually the natural course of things, feeding the fish is so much of the enjoyment..and It sounded like you already got a bit of the bug..with the betta pond.....My suggestion is to gather lots of information...then do whatever makes you happy....again...sorry Rabbit if we disagree..I'll bail out and watch from afar...One more mention though...If you do it and go with a "diff. fish" I suggest a few Ciclids...they are beautiful and aggresive eaters....so even with a few they will be fun to watch eat!!!!!! The lagoon at Animal kingdom has them....wow spectacular! Blue, yellows...just gorgeous...sorry there I go again talking about fish...they are my passion...can't help myself! Good luck!

Here are my thoughts... The people that get in power on the board for your HOA are usually real idiots who will mismanage the funds and make everyone's life a living hell. It doesn't matter what the price range of the community is. You have to live with this. The maintenance fees can and will go up especially if you have a lot of ammenities and not a lot of homes to offset the cost. New construction homes typically come with no improvements so you have to put up some cash in the beginning for blinds, and appliances and whatever. If you have a reputable builder who gives a warranty... or not... you will be fixing minor (hopefully it's minor) stuff for the first year or so. If you're one of the first homes in the hood, you will be blessed with construcion noise for however long it takes to finish. Now for some plusses, you get to live in what sounds like will be a well maintained community consisting of well to do residents and your property will probably be very desirable years down the road long after the community is closed out. You get a new house for less than a custom build on a city lot. (usually) You get ammenities that you will probably never use but even if you do, it's a lot cheaper than building your own tennis court. And last but not least, having neighbors is kind of nice sometimes if they are nice neighbors. If you have kids, there will be other kids to play with and other social events. Things to look out for... The placement of your lot... make sure it's not at the beginning of the community or you will have a lot of traffic passing by you. On the other hand if you are way in the back you will have to drive slowly through the neighborhood anytime you want to get somewhere. Make sure you're not on a thoroughfare where people will speed and not on a corner lot where people run stop signs and drive on your lawn. Sizes can be decieving. Make sure the driveways are sizeable and there is adequate space between each lot for comfort. Look at all the other floor plans and make sure you've got one of the smallest ones. Never buy the biggest or most expensive home in a community! And make sure you don't have a lot of townhouse type things that might be potentially rented out if provided for in the rules. Last but not least, talk to existing residents either in this neighborhood or others the builder has done and ask them what their experience was like and if there have been any major problems to look out for. Ask them if the temporary management company is tending to community maintenance and responsive to phone calls.

I am so glad I grew up during a time before the information age. How ever did my generation even survive? Today's generation is so anxious about every little thing. We have all sorts of anxieties cropping up regarding everything from the food we eat to the water we bathe in. Crazy. All these reports do is promote anxiety issues among the general public. What is seldom mentioned in restaurant reports is that most violations are handled in a matter of minute or less than a day. Often it is simply something like an empty soap dispenser or a lack of clean bar towels when the inspector comes by. But that gets classified under some scary sounding violation. Boom the dispenser is filled and the towel delivery arrive and they are back in compliance. Same with pools. There is no possible way to keep the PH levels constant in any pool much less a public one and that seems to be the most common violation. Then thier is the let's scare the bejeezus out of the public with the math. Yeah. Around 12% of the pools had to be closed. For how long? 30 minutes? A hour? A few days? A week? Forever? I agree that neighborhood (HOA) /motel and other semi public pools are riskier than a water park pool. Often volunteers or the owners are keeping up the upkeep. People just need to chill a bit. Live life,have fun and take Google and the mass media with a grain of salt. A whole salt block would be better.

Did you make your choice yet? Used Swimex pools do become available from time to time and would be within your budget if you waited long enough. As you know, the Swimex paddlewheel current is considered the most superior of any on the market right now. It almost sounds like with your landscaping that a Containur Pool made of a repurposed shipping container and fiberglass with fitting for an Endless Pool swim current would be ideal since you could set it without any retaining wall, just piers on your slope. Those are also within your budget. The Michael Phelps swim spas are excellent, and I'm sure you would enjoy one if you went that direction. However, buying a used one and expecting another 15 years out of it is risky. Those shells are acrylic and not as durable as fiberglass, especially if this will be outdoors. The parent company, Masterspas, has also been known to deal with some quality failures on occasion, though no more it would seem than most other spa companies. Those stand-alone spas do tend to start having problems that require repair starting around the 5-year mark and beyond. A gunite pool can last a lifetime and is often competitively priced against a swim spa, but your landscape would add a lot of cost since you have that slope. I am interested to hear what you decided.