By Katie Pocras Halperin, Nebraska Home Sales Realtor

Mailboxes. What possible can a mailbox have in common with a home sale? Not much, really. Most people don’t paya them any attention. But I do. Every once in a while I’ll have a home buyer tell me they “don’t want a home with one of those mailboxes down the street.” What they’re referring to are the cluster of mailboxes which are located down the street from where you live. Usually, newer neighborhoods have these clusters. They have their benefits: cost effective for the USPS, meet your neighbors, and secure out-mailing.

In my neighborhood, for over a week, we have a toppled stone mailbox. It looks pretty sad lying there, all hollow and crumpled. I don’t know if a car backed into it or if the wind blew over. That’s a problem with fancy mailboxes – they’re not simple to fix. Or as my father-in-law used to say, “I don’t want to hit a stone mailbox with my car. Think of the damage”. Damage to whom? The car, driver or mailbox?

And what about the mailboxes that make a statement? I’m thinking specifically of the Husker helmets or the large-mouth bass fish. Yes, you open up the bass’ mouth and in goes the mail. Clearly a conversation starter… or not.

My most favorite, clever and practical mailbox I have yet to find in Lincoln. It has a hidden trap door. When you leave town, you open the trap and mail falls into the holding cavity. Then, when you get back in town, you can use a keyed door to access your mail. No more filling out the ‘hold my mail’ cards.

Maybe mailboxes are a thing of the past. I hope not. I still like to get mail.