FINANCING AN IN GROUND SWIMMING POOL

When folks first think of swimming pool ownership, the last thing they usually consider is method of payment.  This is what I’ve found after close to 30 years of experience in the pool industry.  There are various methods of financing swimming pools and what works for one may not be ideal for another.

CASH: In years of pool sales, rarely do folks I work for pay with cash.  Most folks pay us with checks according to our payment breakdown.  Some folks use available funds that are in, or they transfer into their checking account or money market account.  This is the most common way we see for financing pools.
Home Equity Line: A home equity line is a pledge against your home that entitles the borrower (in most cases) up to 80% of the appraised value of the home, less any pledges against the home.  Many of my clients us home equity lines for their convenience and the rate of interest on a home equity line is usually outstanding.  I’ve seen them at prime interest rate plus 0%.  If you’re squeamish about “collateralizing” your property, understand that ultimately, no matter how you approach a loan, someone wants guarantee of payment.  The more solid your promise, the better rate of interest you’re going to get.  Here’s an example:  You live in a $300,000 property and its paid for.  The bank or lending institution agrees to loan you up to 80% of your equity or up to $240,000 in revolving line of credit. The lender provides you with a check book and other ways to utilize the available credit.  At this point, because this is a “mortgage type’ loan, the interest paid on the loan may be deducted off your taxes (if you qualify).  Suppose money is owed already or say you have $200,000 equity in the property, the lender will allow up to 80% of your equity, or $160,000 .   As you can see its pretty easy to figure if and for how much credit you qualify for your project. 
Ultimately, most folks will turn the amount of the project into a permanent loan, if they feel or see interest rates are going up.

Home Improvement Lenders: There are many lenders who specialize in home improvement type loans and we work only with those who allow our clients to pay us in the steps that we ordinarily spell out in our construction agreements.  In the years of building swimming pools, we have established payment steps that work well for us and our customers.

The following are lending institutions we have used personally and seen others use.  We do not necessarily recommend them; however, they give folks a place to begin looking for pool financing.

First Citizens Bank
HFS Financial