Do Swimming Pools Add Value to Your Home in Iowa?

Summer has arrived in Iowa and swimming pools are very popular again. The swimming season in Central Iowa is short so we have to take advantage of the time we have. Backyard pools used to be considered a luxury. (Disclaimer: I am only referring to in-ground pools in this article.) 

My experience with a pool began in 1997 when Kristy and I purchased our acreage just south of Norwalk. It came with a pool that was about 7 years old. We enjoyed it and our children have great memories of growing up with a pool in the backyard. By the time we were empty nesters, the pool was needing some work that was going to be very costly. It was expensive to maintain the pool, requiring a lot of my time as well, so we made the decision to remove it (which was also very expensive I can add). When we hired the excavating company to remove it (approximately 2008), he mentioned that he was removing a lot of pools for the same reason we were. He said that his clients were telling me the two best days of owning a pool was the day it was built and the day it was removed. That sounded similar to owning a boat.  

Many of my readers agreed in the poll last week – with nearly everyone voting that a pool or hot tub just sounded like too much maintenance. 

At that time, pools in Central Iowa did not add value to a property. If there was any additional value, it was usually just due to the patio area associated with the pool. If a pool was old or had deferred maintenance, it actually hurt the value of the property. Then Covid happened. Our response to that created a huge demand for backyard pools. It was a crazy time and pool companies could not keep up with the skyrocketing demand. I had clients that waited a year or more for their pool to be built. 

Since then, we have had to adjust our valuations on properties with pools, because they actually do add value and it can be significant. I would also say that the pools today are much nicer than the pool we had, which was concrete with a vinyl liner. The materials they make these one-piece pools out of and the way they deliver them to your property are amazing, as well as the salt water systems that chlorinate the water. I am amazed at the improvements they have made.  

Who knows how long the demand for backyard pools will continue, but I suspect it will be well into the foreseeable future. So currently, homeowners with a backyard pool are able to recover a significant amount of the cost to install it. Above ground pools and hot tubs are considered personal property and are not included in real estate valuations, but any deck that is associated with them would.  

Norwalk IA Real Estate – Jon Niemeyer, Broker/Owner/REALTOR® at EXIT Realty North Star. I list and sell real estate in Central Iowa including Norwalk, Des Moines, West Des Moines, Cumming, Indianola, Carlisle, Waukee, Urbandale, Grimes, Clive, Johnston, Ankeny, Altoona, and Pleasant Hill in the Counties of Warren, Polk, Dallas, and Madison. Call Jon Niemeyer at 515-490-4675.