The water temperature may be just right, but the cost of buying and operating a pool is scalding.

Anyone who contemplates owning a pool should expect it to cost at least $3,000 a year, or $5,000 if they turn the job of maintaining it over to a pool service, estimates Susan Elser, a certified financial planner in Indianapolis.

Installing a pool along with the required extras like a high fence costs at least $25,000 and probably $50,000 is a better estimate. And in most parts of the country, it isn’t likely that pool owners will get their money back when they sell.

I question whether it adds anything to the [sale price], says Ed Rose, a financial planner at Bayside Wealth Management in Pensacola, Fla. It may contribute something, but you'll never get your money out of it on the resale.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Brett Arends