Life is so prolific in making stuff more than space. One day you are in a comfortable state, the next you are scurrying between heaps of cardboard boxes to get to the kitchen kettle. Sound familiar?
Self storage units have become a silent savior to millions not only of hoarders or those who are in the middle of a move, but also of entrepreneurs, collectors, families clearing out an estate and anyone in between. The demand is real. The choices are mind boggling. And the errors which people make? Surprisingly consistent.
The greatest misconception is that every facility is made equal. They are by no means.
Enter a facility that is not well managed and you will see flickering lights, sticky floors and a security gate which opens like a swing door when you look at it at an angle. Enter a properly run one and it is nearly… comforting. The difference is crucial when your possessions are sitting there with no one to take care of them months.
One aspect that people always underestimate is temperature. Furniture, warped guitar, corroded electronics and ruined documents are all that humidity can do. Storage that is climate controlled is a little more expensive every month. However, weigh that against the expense of replacing an old record collection or wet family photographs – it all of a sudden appears to be the best option.
The puzzle of getting the unit size is in itself. Get too small and you are doing weekend gymnastics to get anything out of the back. Get too big and you’re paying to fill the air. A useful tip: write down all the objects you are going to put there, find a simple sizing guide on the Internet and increase it by a size. Buffer space is not squandered, but sanity is maintained.
Don’t skip the security audit. Point-blank: Do you have cameras that are monitored live or recorded only? Do units have individual alarms? What do they do at night? A place that is cagey in responding to simple questions is likely to be harboring secrets – or simply something to be ashamed of.
Contracts are to be read slowly and carefully. Offers are enticements, pure and simple. The actual expense usually comes into play silently after month two or three when the rate changes come into play. Always enquire about the frequency and the amount of increase or decrease of prices.
Accessibility stumbles business owners in particular. Drive-up access is not an option when you are loading product three times a week, it is a must.
See the signature beforehand. In person. Professionally styled fiction half the time are the photos on the websites. Appear, go on the floor, open a unit door and follow your gut.
Storage when done properly, buys you breathing room. Do it in a haphazard way, and it will only shift the mess about.