As we all know, pools are costly. The common inground pool costs at least $25.000. Even a top tier above ground pool can cost tens of thousands, especially if you take into account the price of an attached deck and other features.

Simply put, before proceeding to the process of buying a backyard pool, you must find out how to pay for it. For most customers, that means taking out a pool loan or considering some other form of financing. However, what if your credit history is not so outstanding? Do you have to give up on your dreams of having a pool?

Below are a few things to remember before starting to look for a pool loan:

1. See if you can really afford a pool

Pools are expensive luxury objects that don’t always enhance your property value – they may not even compensate the cost of their installation. Based on their design and structure, they can also be costly to maintain. In short, you really have to consider the full price of having a pool before you start to do anything.

2. Verify a home equity loan or home equity line of credit

If you’re a homeowner (and you probably are if you’re considering a purchase of a pool), then you may already have access to one of the best methods of financing home improvement projects. Although they work a bit differently, home equity loans and home equity lines of credit both use the equity in your house to obtain a loan. Since they use your property as a bail, such options usually provide more favorable conditions than other kind of loans – even if you have a bad credit history.

Surely, if you don’t have many valuable objects in your home, this financing option is out of question. Moreover, you could lose your property if you don’t manage to return the money that you borrowed.

3. Search through everything for the most optimal conditions

Shopping around is a common recommendation for any significant financial solution; however, when it concerns securing a pool loan with a poor credit history it’s essential. Your existing bank is the first place to go to for a home improvement loan, but you may be confused by all the options they offer. Study Internet banks, loans offered by the pool companies, and any programs you might apply for based on particular status (such as a veteran, for instance). Some funding sources are much more lenient of poor credit than the rest.

4. Control your project scope

Controlling on your installation price will decrease the amount of financing you need, minimizing your risk and possibly enhancing you loan terms. Asking quotes from various pool builders is a significant step that can help you save much, but remember that you might pay for cheap materials and quality of construction later on. You’d better employ a reputable pool contractor and reduces expenses by choosing a smaller pool and/or less extra functions.

5. Work on your credit history before obtaining a pool loan

Keep in mind that you can always postpone pool building until you can enhance your credit history – and you may take it very quickly. There are lots of easy things you can do to increase this score, such as setting your credit card balances to zero and paying your bills timely. If you do this and still have some money left, you can even begin to save for a pool of your dream. This will decrease the size of the loan you will finally require, or maybe even rid yourself of the need for a loan.

Buying a pool implies many important decisions, but the main of them is how to pay for it. Financing a pool with poor credit history is one thing – obtaining good terms of the loan and repaying it is another. Taking into account the price of a new pool, it is useful to make a research and search for the optimal option, even if it is to wait until you’re in a better financial position.