Baton Rouge Home Appraiser photo of a filled in inground pool speaks volumes about inground pools in general! This is a common sight in older subdivisions such as Tara, Broadmoor, Sherwood Forest and Villa Del Rey. NOTE: All photos in this post were taken by me, Bill Cobb Baton Rouge Home Appraiser.
What advice does a Veteran Baton Rouge Home Appraiser have for those wanting to add an Ingound Pool?
First, contrary to what I've been told by those reading my advice, I'm not entirely down of inground swimming pools. I am opposed to homeowners being suckered by slick pool salesmen telling them adding a pool is going to increase the value of your home substantially! Anytime any salesperson uses the words "adding this is going to add value to your home", your guard should start going off and be very, very cautious going forward! I've been told by homeowners over 24 years that siding, window, gutters and pool salespersons use such slick tactics. Such features may or may not actually add value to your home. 
AN INVESTMENT IN FAMILY FUN!
My longtime friend and REALTOR BROKER, Pat Guttery, who passed away in mid 2015, coined the phrase, "a pool is an investment in family fun!".
My advice to homeowners regarding pools or various extras is this: IF you plan on living in your home FOREVER and you’re not concerned about resale value, then add what you want to and enjoy your home. My experience over 24 years has been that homeowners don’t remain in their homes forever because job relocations happen, divorce happens, cancer or sickness happens, death of a spouse sometimes happens, changing neighborhood sometimes lower values over time resulting in loss of value, etc..
I shot this yesterday at a home purchase appraisal. Pools don't always have value. Just based on this photo alone, there's lots of advice an Appraiser could offer to locals about pools and value and the cost to fill them in...
INSTALL A POOL IF YOU HAVE DISPOSABLE INCOME AND YOU DON'T NEED THAT POOL TO ADD VALUE!
After stating that an IG Pool is a poor "investment" and is rather a personal preference expense, I said, " As long as you have $25,000 to $100,000 cash that you don't need and don't care if an Appraiser or a Buyer gives you a dime in return for a Pool, then install them and have all the fun you want. However, if you install 1, don't gripe at the Appraiser, REATLOR or resale Buyer when you don't get much of any return when you go to sell. MOST homeowers believe they are increasing the value of their homes by adding a pool and this is not always correct. COST DOESN'T ALWAYS EQUAL VALUE. Location, Location, Location dictates here and a a pool in Sherwood Forest will have almost no value as opposed to a pool in Country Club of Louisiana or University Club Plantation. Just be prepared to receive from $0 to maybe 33% of cost of an IG Pool and that's a huge maybe."
NOTE: This Larger Than Average Heated IG Pool has a $27,000 Florida Style Covering. Homeowner Stated Total Cost was $100,000 and when this home sold in 2014, the pool "might" have contributed $20,000 to total sales price. 
HOW MUCH VALUE DOES A POOL ADD?
Appraiser Jason Loeback said, "Im often asked the question "does an inground pool increase or add any value to my property...and if so how much?". My answer is always and ONLY....."it depends"."
NO VALUE FOR THIS $45,000 Per RURAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCING.
In this Geismar Louisiana Home Sale financed "Rural Development" or RD FMHA, RD wouldn't allow any value to be added for this $45,000 gunite pool. I originally completed this report adding at least $5,000 in IG Pool value and the Lender, per RD, had me remove value added for this pool. 
COST TO FILL THEM IN?
Maine Appraiser Jennifer Cote said, "Another issue is even when you want to fill it in, costs a lot of money. I bought a house with a huge pool that needed work, opened it one year and the cost to run and maintain it was just too much. Cost to fill it in correctly $6,000-$12,000! 33,000 gallon inground gunite pool."
Vinyl Liner Pool liner falling and torn
During Foreclosures, IG Pools end up like this, with wood built around them to prevent neighborhood kids from drowning in them.
POOLS ARE AN INVESTMENT IN "FUN" FOR YOUR FAMILY!
An Agent friend of mine, Pat Guttery, made a good point to balance a blog post or Appraiser opinion by saying, "Financially, yes it's a poor investment. However, it's an Investment in your family, well, there is value there. A pool is like a hot tub, four wheeler, a boat or an RV. It's an investment in fun with your family."
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