I can say that from my experience, the pool is a lot more expensive than I thought it would be! We decided to move not too long ago. Had lake front house with dock, but no yard with kids - decided to trade that for a house with a pool, a yard, and keep my boat at a slip close by. The costs added up quickly. The pool ended up needing a complete remodel - it had a leak, needed a replaster, the decking was cracked and crumbling and needed to be redone along with the coping, lighting, new pool heater, etc etc. Then add in the maintenance costs for a pool service since I knew nothing about pools (roughly 400/month on average). On top of that, I had to buy a boat slip and new lift since I no longer had a dock. Probably close to $100k all in. Still finishing up some of those projects that started in fall last year. I’ll try to post some pics after all done.
Do I regret moving and dealing with all this? No. My kids love it, wife is happy, and therefore I am happy. We were especially glad to have the use of all these things at home during COVID when we couldn’t travel.
Hammering this home, I will also share something that really made me think about this. Just a couple days ago, a colleague of mine passed away unexpectedly. He was a few years from retirement and there were no signs this was coming. Great guy, friend and neighbor. There are no guarantees for life, and you only live once. Just do what makes you and your family happy. The details will work themselves out if those boxes are checked.