One of the fun parts of being a real estate agent is seeing new and different things in people’s homes.  Yesterday evening, I saw this castle built in the basement of a home.  I see play areas a lot, but this one was much more than just a play area.  It looked very realistic, and when I tapped the stone with my fingers, I was surprised to see that it was real stone!  Obviously a brick mason had built this.

The thing is, it took up a huge part of the basement, and it was very permanent.  Barricaded in there.  It was definitely the best castle I’ve ever seen built in a home basement.  I could just imagine kids barricading themselves in when they’re supposed to be doing chores, then throwing water balloons or eggs out from the 2nd story at unsuspecting siblings or parents.

Then today, I visited some clients brand new home that they closed on just last week.  It was the same exact stone on the outside of their home as was in the basement.  What a coincidence.

So does something like this help sell a property?  Obviously my clients bought this home just last week.  But unfortunately, my other clients were turned off by the stone castle in the basement.  There’s a place for everything.  Stone on the outside of a home — great for most people.  A stone castle in the basement — great for people who love castles in their basement and want it to be the centerpiece of conversation.  My clients didn’t go for the castle in the basement, but who knows….  The next family might just love it!

One other interesting thing about this basement — you can see the fireplace in the background.  It is a double sided fireplace, so the view can be enjoyed from two rooms.  Unfortunately, one of the rooms is a bedroom, so all privacy for the bedroom (or for those watching TV in the other room) is compromised by the view through the fireplace, also framed in the same stone.

In real estate, this is termed “functional obsolescense,” or actually detracting from the value of a property because of difficulty in changing a feature.