Swimming Pool Loans: Compare Your Options

Swimming pools are a popular addition to residential properties. They are awesome for fitness, provide endless entertainment for kids, and are a great place to kick back and relax.

Despite the benefits, however, they are also expensive. In fact, the average in-ground pool costs between $25,700 and $29,600 to install. Luckily, there are various types of swimming pool loans that can help you cover the costs.

On this page:

• Personal Loans for Swimming Pools
• Home Equity Products for Swimming Pools
• Swimming Pool Dealer Financing
• Benefits of Pool Loans
• Drawbacks of Pool Loans

Personal Loans for Swimming Pools

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Personal loans are typically unsecured products (meaning they require no collateral) offered by banks, credit unions, and other lenders. These are often a good choice for financing a swimming pool because of their relatively low rates, wide range of loan amounts, and predictable repayment schedule.

In order to qualify, you typically need to have consistent income and a good credit score. The higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate you will receive. The most qualified borrowers can expect a rate under 10%.

Loan terms typically range from around 2 to 7 years and rates are usually fixed.

Check out our Best Personal Loans page to see our top choices by credit category and learn more.

Home Equity Loans & HELOCs for Swimming Pools

Home equity products, as you might guess, are secured by the equity in your home. They offer you the opportunity to borrow money at a lower rate than most personal loans or credit cards and come with longer terms for repayment.

Home Equity Loans

Home equity loans are great if you know exactly how much you’ll need up front and are confident you won’t go over budget.

A home equity loan works much like other loans. First, you apply and, if approved, you receive the loan proceeds in a lump sum. Payments generally start the next month and you’ll make monthly payments until the loan is paid back in full.

Interest rates vary by lender but usually range from around 4% to 10%.

You can compare our top choices for home equity loans and learn more on our Best Home Equity Loans page.

Home Equity Lines of Credit

With a home equity line of credit, you can borrow money up to a limit and repay it as many times as you’d like during the draw period, which is usually five to 10 years.

They tend to have slightly higher interest rates than home equity loans, but still far lower than a credit cards and typically personal loans if you don’t have great credit.

If you’re worried about going over budget or don’t want to take out more than you need, a HELOC can help by allowing you to only take what you need when you need it.

You can compare our top choices and learn more on our Best HELOC Rates & Lenders page.

Swimming Pool Dealer Financing

Swimming pool dealers often offer in-house pool financing, but this is generally the most expensive of the three major options.

While they often run specials where 12 or 18 months are “same as cash” with a “pay no interest” period, if you aren’t able to pay off the pool during that time, you’ll often be stuck with a high interest rate.

To make matters worse, they may even add on the interest that was accruing in the background during the introductory period which can be substantial.

Some of the benefits of swimming pool financing are obvious, such as having a source of recreation on your property.

Other benefits, however, include effective use of space in your yard that can add significant value to your home—increasing the price you can get later if you ever sell.

In addition, your swimming pool could actually help protect you by increasing the equity in your home. It frees up additional equity in case you have a sudden large home repair or another emergency that needs financing.

Benefits of a Swimming Pool Loan

Not everything about getting a swimming pool loan is perfect and risk-free.

Pools require daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance, and the bigger or more option-loaded your pool is, the more you’ll pay for upkeep. It’s cheaper if you do the maintenance yourself, but it will still cost you money and time.

If you’ve financed your pool, you’ll be making monthly payments on the loan with interest, plus the maintenance costs on the pool, which could be more than you can afford.

Drawbacks of a Swimming Pool Loan

Before you rush over to your bank to apply for a swimming pool loan, do some comparison shopping with several banks and different products to see if you may be eligible for a lower interest rate.

Look at your budget. How much can you afford to spend on pool-related expenses in a given month? How much equity will it add to your home, and is the expense worth it? Are there any other alternative options you might consider before financing?

Things to Keep in Mind When Financing a Swimming Pool

You may decide that you need to get a smaller pool than you envisioned or even choose to put off financing at all until you can afford the pool you want out-of-pocket.

Depending on where you live, such as a northern location with snow on the ground eight months out of the year, you may decide that the limited use doesn’t justify the expense.

Also, look at your budget. How much can you afford to spend on pool-related expenses in a given month? How much equity will it add to your home, and is the expense worth it? Are there any other alternative options you might consider before financing? Will there be additional expenses, such as a new fence installation, that you’ll need to finance as well?

You may decide that you need to get a smaller pool than you envisioned or even choose to put off financing at all until you can afford the pool you want out-of-pocket. Depending on where you live, such as a northern location with snow on the ground eight months out of the year, you may decide that the limited use doesn’t justify the expense.

Bottom Line

Building a swimming pool is a major investment. Before you leap, have a solid financial plan for how to afford it and make sure you really want it. That way, once it is installed, you can relax poolside knowing that you have a plan for repayment and there is nothing to worry about with your swimming pool loan.