Float Away Any Summertime Blues: 7 Homes With Lavish Lazy River Pools

fun pool home ideas from realtor.com

May flowers are in full bloom, the school year is winding down, and temperatures are creeping steadily into the sweat zone.

While most of us simply crank up the AC and scroll through resorts for a respite, a lucky few just amble into their backyards. For those charmed homeowners with resortlike pools on their properties, we cop to a serious case of lazy river envy.

Lazy rivers are the finest pool-related amenity—allowing an aimless sunbather to float along, with jet currents so gentle a cocktail in hand won't spill.

It's the dreamy warm-weather experience most of us get only occasionally, on vacation—if we're lucky. What if you could indulge yourself whenever you wanted? To indulge in our own lazy river–fueled fantasy, we scoped out the coolest pools for sale from coast to coast.

We found seven homes on the market with lazy rivers, swim-up bars, grottoes, and other manner of high-end water experiences that might make your next trip to the resort feel downright dreary. This is how you do summer the right way.

Pass the (waterproof) sunblock and take a dip.

38508 N. 34th Ave, Phoenix, AZ

Price: $935,000
Desert dream: This home's pool cost a cool quarter-million dollars to build in 2006 and has been recognized among the top 10 in Arizona. More than just a spot to cool off, this home's backyard has a lazy river, grotto waterfall, tunnels, a slide, misting system, and much more. The rest of the five-bedroom home is more subdued, but it's all arranged to soak in the views of all the fun out back.



16810 Saddle Ridge Pass, Cypress, TX

Price: $4,999,500
Playtime perfection: This five-bedroom estate sits on more than 4 acres and was built first and foremost for fun. The interiors are luxurious to be sure, but it's what's on the outside that gives this home the feel of a resort. Out back, there's a covered kitchen, pond with pier, and pool with spa and dreamy lazy river.



42 Island Estates Pkwy, Palm Coast, FL

Price: $3,950,000
Island ideal: This five-bedroom estate was built in 1992 and sits on nearly 3 acres with 300 feet of Intracoastal Waterway frontage. If boating out of the floating dock or swimming at the private beach a short walk away aren't appealing, head out back. There you can take a dip in the 4,500-square-foot, glass-tiled pool with rock structure, waterfalls, spa, lazy river, swim-up bar, and grotto.



5 Wood Creek Ct, Las Vegas, NV

Price: $6,200,000
Million-dollar marvel: This pool connected to a 9,400-square-foot, Tuscan-style estate cost $1 million to build in 2006 and was featured on HGTV's top 50 pools series. In addition to the lazy river, the pool area includes waterfalls, a swim-up bar, and hot tub.




3720 Krenek Rd, Crosby, TX

Price: $2,500,000
50 acres of fun: In addition to over-the-top amenities like an indoor breezeway, loggia, and pet grooming room, this enormous 50-acre estate outside Houston has a bountiful backyard. There's a free-flowing pool, which includes a lazy river, waterfall grotto, slide, fire pit, and cabana.



6949 Chartwell Dr, Riverside, CA

Price: $1,999,900
'White House': Dubbed the "White House," this Colonial-style home from 1999 has seven bedrooms and more than 6,600 square feet. In addition to lavish interiors, this home has a backyard with a new lazy river pool, spa, shower, gazebo, and kitchen with barbecue and pizza oven.



2802 E. Benders Landing Blvd, Spring, TX

Price: $1,675,000
Best of benders: Built in 2008, this 10,000-square-foot mansion is big even for Texas. While the interiors boast extras like custom millwork and built-ins, rotunda ceilings, and a grand staircase, this 2-acre property truly shines with its outdoor spaces. Experience outdoor living at its finest with a heated pool with waterfalls, slide, spa, and beach entry. Apparently, sometimes even a spectacular pool isn't quite enough.

Mortgage Rates Just Hit a New All-Time Low

from Money.com

Those who were holding out on buying or refinancing a mortgage in the hopes of getting even lower rates finally have their patience rewarded. Interest rates have reached a new all-time low for the third time since the beginning of the year.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.15% with 0.8 points paid, for the week ending May 28, according to Freddie Mac. That’s 0.08 percentage points below the previous all-time low of 3.23% set April 30. A year ago today the average interest rate was 3.99%. It is the fifth consecutive week where interest rates have remained below 3.30%.

Average interest rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by 0.8 percentage points to 2.62% with 0.7 points paid. Meanwhile, the average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage decreased to 3.13% with 0.4 points paid, a decline of 0.4 percentage points from last week’s 3.17%

Refinance loans continue to be in high demand as they make up almost two-thirds of all mortgage loan activity. Conventional refinance loans increased 2% over the previous week thanks to continued low interest rates. More recent refinance activity has also seen a $70,000 decrease in the average amount of refinance loan size. “This means a broader base of borrowers are taking advantage of the record low rate environment, which will benefit the economy,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist in a statement.

Home purchase mortgage applications continue their six-week rise as lock-downs orders ease throughout the U.S. According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), applications were up 9% over the previous week and 54% over their level in early April. New York continues to lead the way with an increase of 19.7% over last week, while California saw an increase of 11.6%.

New listings plunge across state

With limited market supply, it's a good time to sell...see Denver Post Article...

New listings plunge across state
Single-family home sales drop 20.3% amid stay-at-home orders in April

Stay-at-home orders dealt a heavy blow to home sales across the state in April, but they didn’t knock the market off its feet, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Association of Realtors.

Open houses were not permitted and in-person visits were limited until the final walk-through, which made marketing homes difficult. Concerned about their health and job losses, sellers and buyers alike pulled back.


Yet, contracts were closed on 7,590 residences across the state, with minimal discounting, and 6,761 properties were put under contract. And once showings were allowed again at the end of April, buyers came back out.

“Everybody expected there would be this massive tanking of our market when it opened back up, but on the contrary, we are back to where we were. It isn’t doom and gloom,” said Denver-area Realtor Matthew Leprino.

Yet, Leprino said he maintains a cautious outlook. Unemployment rates have spiked to their highest levels since the Great Depression, consumer credit scores are taking a hit, and lenders are tightening their loan standards, all of which could sideline many would-be buyers in the months ahead.

“We have rebounded, but now what is next?” he said.

Single-family home sales dropped 20.3% statewide, from 7,444 in April 2019 to 5,930 this April. Townhome and condo sales fell a steeper 32.4%, from 2,455 a year ago to 1,660 last month.

Buyers weren’t the only ones holding back. The number of single-family homes that Colorado sellers listed fell 24.1% last month, from 9,591 in March to 7,281 in April. Condo and town-home listings dropped from 3,024 to 2,064, a decline of 32.1% over the month.

Single-family listings took 40 days on average to sell statewide in April, down from 47 days the same month a year earlier, while condos and townhomes took 42 days to sell compared to 46 days last year.

Median home sales prices largely held up. Statewide, they fell 1% month-over-month, to $419,900, and are still up 5% over the year. Condo and townhome prices dropped 4.3% to $315,000 on the month but remain up 3.3% on the year.

A report last week from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors showed similar declines in metro Denver. There were 3,603 homes and condos sold, a 24.3% drop month-over-month and a 30.8% drop year over year. New listings came in at 4,679, down 29.8% from March and 37.8% from April of 2019.

Jill Schafer, chairwoman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, said in the report that buyers mostly avoided making low-ball offers, asking for big discounts or stretching out the sales process. Sellers in metro Denver received 99.96% of the listing price on average last month.

The median price of a single-family that closed in metro Denver and surrounding counties last month was $475,425, down 2.2% from March and up 3.35% from April 2019. The median price of a condo sold was $322,000, down 2.4% from March but still up 6.9% from a year earlier.

The drop in buying activity was especially pronounced in mountain resort counties, which were hit earlier and harder by the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the CAR report. Sellers held back listings at a higher rate in metro Denver and in some of the counties on the Eastern Plains.

Across the state, high-end homes saw the biggest drop in demand. Some agents in higher-priced mountain communities argue that wealthy buyers escaping congested cities will fuel a rebound, while others noted that the collapse in oil and gas prices could reduce demand from Texans and push current owners from that state to sell.

“We really are unsure of our real estate and tourist economy in that none of us have ever experienced a health pandemic like we are in now,” said George Harvey, a Telluride-area Realtor, in comments accompanying the CAR report.

Back to work: As property showings resume, builders and agents see a quick resumption of spring interest from buyers, sellers

good article from Denver Post with what I'm seeing as well:

"Back to work: As property showings resume, builders and agents see a quick resumption of spring interest from buyers, sellers
“Indications are that we’re still going to have a positive market coming into rest of the year.”

In the few days since statewide restrictions were lifted on the showing of properties, Colorado builders and real estate agents were already seeing a quick upswing in buyer interest that’s being heralded as a sign of a possible early market recovery.

“We’ve already seen plenty of showings; there’s pent-up demand,” says Matt Leprino, spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors who tracks data for the association.

“How long that will last is hard to tell, but showings are back up after dropping off,” he adds.

Initial stay-at-home orders had drastically cut into numbers of showings in the Denver area, by over 90 percent; but the orders were rescinded last week, as real estate was reclassified as an essential ‘field service.’

“Indications are that we’re still going to have a positive market coming into rest of the year,” says Rike Palese, who heads up Re/Max Professionals’ DTC office—just under $1 billion in residential sales last year.

“Sellers want to sell, and there’s a lot of buyer momentum,” Palese adds.

Office stats from last week indicated showings in the few days following the lifting had gone way up, already 20% above levels in mid-March when the virus crisis was descending.

“Are we back to normal? No, but we’re working our way to that,” Palese says. He notes that lending is now more of a challenge for some buyers, facing higher credit score requirements for some programs.

“The important thing to know is that there’s availability for financing at great rates, with reasonable down payments.” Some lenders have restricted jumbo market loans, but others are still offering them, Palese adds.

Meanwhile, some agents were marking how well they had done even during maximum restrictions. “It’s still been pretty stable,” says Jason Cummings with Compass Real Estate—noting that he had tracked eight homes closed during the height of the quarantine, with three new ones under contract and 11 new listings that arrived.

“As with 9/11 and other catastrophes, people want to move on in a positive way,” adds Re/Max’s Palese.

“People are getting out, experiencing more freedom, and will feel even more positive. We’re already seeing people who were holding off when the stock market dropped off now thinking about coming back in.”

CAR’s Matt Leprino cautioned that the national market, in the shadow of 30 million job losses, presented significant challenges to recovery. The Mortgage Bankers Association released new stats Monday showing that numbers of the loan in forbearance—with borrowers requesting a suspension of their loan payments—had jumped over the crisis from around a quarter-percent of all loans to 6.99%, with expectations the levels would increase.

Leprino cautioned borrowers contemplating forbearance, particularly if prospects for returning to work are imminent. “You sign on the line and say I don’t have to pay, but a lot of banks will require a lump-sum repayment,” he notes.

Although the CARES Act states that borrowers shouldn’t incur penalties, Leprino adds that credit scores could still be affected.

“Humans tend to like to forget the negative and move on,” adds Palese."