I have been living in the same little basement apartment for six years. When I first moved in, I thought it was a temporary solution. Now that I know all the benefits of basement apartment living, I may never leave. My little basement apartment has two bedrooms, a tiny bathroom and smallish kitchen. The living room is ten feet wide, 25 feet long and leads directly into the kitchen. Having a real living room is out of the question. This is due to the positioning of the front and back doors. The couch is as close to the TV as it can get without us all going blind. Still, the benefits of basement apartment living far outweigh the problems.
Cost Let’s start with the price tag. Since I moved in 6 years ago and my rent was just $595.00 a month and hasn’t changed, I have the cheapest rent of anyone I know. Not only that, but because we live in the basement, which is hard to rent out, my landlord concedes by giving us free utilities. That’s right, I said free. We do not pay for electricity, gas, water, trash or sewer. We also have a free storage room and a washer and dryer. The laundry is not free but hey, you have to pay for something, right? Plus, the laundry and storage room is directly through my back door. Exit to the big back yard from there. Wait, it gets better.
The Yard The basement apartment I live in is in a converted house. There are three other units. We love all our neighbors. We get to share the huge backyard and small front yard. We all take turns with maintenance. The landlord concedes by making us feel like we own the place. By that I mean he leaves us alone to do as we please with the yard. We have a nice fenced garden that we all constructed together. We have a “patio” made of bricks in the shape of a peace sign that several neighbors came up with. We have a gazebo and we all cook out in the summer together. It’s just one big happy family.
The Windows
My basement apartment is actually a garden level apartment so we get plenty of sun, except in the living room. We have discovered that nobody can really see in our windows from the outside. That means we can hide away from the world when things get stressful out there. When the bill collectors show up at the door we can pretend we are not home. The portion having the least light is the living room. That may seem bad to you. Think about movie night. It’s a real theater experience. You even have to move your legs so people can get to the snack bar. OK, so that part isn’t great, but life is an adventure after all.
Crappy Carpet When I first moved in the carpet needed to be replaced. That was six years ago, remember? Why is this good? We have a cat. She is well trained but the wear and tear is still greater than a household without pets. My boyfriend is a plumber who comes home wearing his work. No matter what happens to the carpet, it doesn’t matter. Why? The landlord offered to replace it when I moved in and I said it was fine. That means he is already expecting to replace it when I move out. Coolness!
Freedom So, there you have it. The benefits of my crappy little tiny basement apartment. We have all the benefits of home ownership without the mortgage payments and maintenance issues. After all, unless you plan on living to the age of ninety, a purchased home is never really yours anyway. The bank owns it. You pay them an exorbitant amount of money to stay there. If you are really good and follow all the rules, they might not foreclose. Unless they go under.
Closing Points
Here, we can remodel as we please within reason. We have a nice yard that we can do as we please with as well. We can have all the visitors we want and make all the noise we want. Nobody complains. We’re all family. Come on over. Grab your popcorn and make yourself at home. Hit the lights before you sit down. The movie’s about to start. Move your feet, will you? I have to visit the ladies room. Oh, and if I ever get tired of my crappy little basement apartment and all it’s many benefits, I’ll just get another one. They’re cheap.
