The unused room “DOWN THERE”

I dislike basements! There I said it. I’m saying that as a homeowner … not as a Realtor®.

As a Realtor®, I know they’re a necessary evil because selling slab homes is tough in central Ohio. Even if people don’t finish them, they use them as extra storage space. Once in a while people use them for a place to go to when there’s a tornado warning. I would go DOWN THERE if that need ever arises.

But on a personal level, I don’t use my basement except to store Christmas trimmings and a few other items. I’ve got plenty of storage space on the upper two floors. I only go DOWN THERE every couple months to change the furnace filter.

The "DOWN THERE" Space

My basement is decent-sized – over 1300 sq ft – so there’s lots of empty space – and some might view it as “having potential”. I’ve shown homes of the same floor plan as mine with the basement finished and they’re very nice. But having mine finished – NAH!

My kids have viewed my basement as “having potential” also. They see all that open space as potential to store their extra stuff. Call me a mean Mom, but I’ve resisted that idea as well.

I really could make it even barer. I have a 10-ft Christmas tree that I haven’t used since my youngest left the nest years ago. The box is too heavy to carry upstairs, so I have to make several trips carrying the piece-parts up. It takes me two days to set it up and decorate, plus, I risk life and limb on the ladder reaching-leaning to decorate the top half. It would really look nice in my great room but …

Help … I’ve fallen and can’t get up!

A little Porsche pedal car is DOWN THERE. It was a gift I gave my oldest granddaughter when she was a toddler. Somehow I got it back. She’ll be 24 next month and got married last year so at some point I’ll likely be able to give it back to her.

At a previous home I had a deck. The furniture for that deck is DOWN THERE. I didn’t like the furniture then and I don’t like it now. I’ve tried to convince my kids to take the furniture, but they don’t need/want it either.

My golf clubs are DOWN THERE. I used to play lots of golf but the clubs haven’t been used for years. Just haven’t had the time to devote the 5 hours required to play a round.

I’ve had clients ask if I had room to store their stuff when their home sold quicker than they thought it would and their new home wasn’t quite ready. Well, yes I do have room DOWN THERE … but, I give them a coupon to PODS instead.

Hello … 1-800-GOT JUNK? … I have some stuff I want you to carry away …

Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.