I installed pools every summer in college and swore I would never have on. BUT wife and kids wore me down and I finally put in a 43,000 gallon in ground last year. The key to a clean pool, ie water, is to run the filter 8 to 10 hours a day and keep the bottom clean with a good auto cleaner or a willing family member. Cleaning is a PITA so it never gets done unless you have an automatic cleaner like Blue Diamond or a Dolphin.
The cheaper above grounds have crappy filters and that is the worse place to skimp on the pool. The cartridge filters that look like giant oil filter elements are the best since the maintenance is the least. A DE is the technical best cleaner but a real pain to clean and keep up on. The salt pools are pretty nice, the water feels killer, but you still can have algae and other issues. Good ole fashion chlorine still rules and is the easiest to keep clean.
The walls on an above ground are always the first thing to die by the way. Some higher end pools now come with polymer walls over the tin/galvanized stuff. My in ground is a vinyl pool but I have all polymer construction so nothing can rust anywhere.
Keep in mind when you set your pool that you can pretty much bury an end of the pool as long as you excavate enough so you build it like a 100% above ground pool and then backfill later. We routinely buried up to 50% of the pool in banks and slopes.
Oh, did I tell you that level level level is the most important. With more than one skimmer you want them to be balanced and work the best. If you are in a windy area and one end of the pool is downwind, consider putting BOTH skimmer in that end since one will undoubtedly be overworked and clogged as all the leaves and 'stuff' gets blown to that end of the pool.
Ping me off line if you have any install questions.