The time has come for you and or your family to rent a storage unit. There are any number of reasons why you might have come to this conclusion, but the fact remains; you need some extra space!
OK, so how do I choose a storage unit, or storage unit company that I can leave my items with?
Well, there are certainly many different options and considerations from which to choose, but for me, these are the top five that I discuss with my clients before they invest in a storage unit.
Costs
The cost of an individual storage unit is based on many different parameters. For example; what city you live in; Charleston is going to be a different price than Chicago, and Houston is going to be different than Los Angeles.
There is also what amenities the facility offers, and even the neighborhood it is located in are all going to effect the bottom line. What you need to think about is what are you storing, how long are you storing it for, and how much is the replacement value. Unless you are only storing for a short period of time, you might do yourself a favor and do the math and figure out when you will have paid enough in rent to buy again what your storing.
Location
To me, the best location is the one that is the easiest and most convenient for the renter to be able to get to, and the price they are willing to pay to be there. I have many clients that are willing to drive a little further if it means saving $10-15 dollars a month for a comparable unit. It is also important to think about where the storage facility is located. Is it by a freeway? on a busy main artery through town? in a quite neighborhood?
Being on a freeway or feeder road, or right next to an freeway entrance or exit can pose problems especially if you are driving a very loaded down vehicle and need to accelerate or brake quickly to get into our out of traffic. This is definitely something to consider if you not comfortable as a driver, your eye site or reaction times are not as good as they used to be, or you are just driving a vehicle that big and cumbersome. On the other hand, if you want easy in and out access, and being on the way to or from your destination then freeway access is just right for you.
Security
Storage companies are marketing more and more about the safety and security of their facilities, and for good reason. Before the 2000’s you might have had a camera or two up on a pole at the entrance, a code to get in and out of the property and a live in on site manager, and that was all the security there was. Now some companies have every unit individually alarmed, barrel locks that go inside the door handle, and video cameras that look down every isle, in each elevator and in the stairwells. Everybody is monitored, and this is good. What all these great security measures do, besides helping you feel comfortable, is effect the price of the unit. To me, this is worth it.
Time/Convenience
So, not only does the location of the storage facility have a lot to do with your time and how convenient it is to get to your unit, but so does unit location. Because we live in a 3 dimensional world physically, we know that storage units either have to be built in a building with multiple floors, or the storage facility has to be built on a large piece of land and spread out. Here is where time and convenience really come into play. For the most part, units on the first floor or closer to the front are going to cost more to rent than those on another floor, or further away from the entrance.
So how much is it worth to you to have to load your items, sometimes very big items, into an elevator, or drive them further back in a labyrinth or buildings and roads trying to find your unit. For some people, that has no bering on what unit they want, but for others it can be a deal breaker. It all comes back to how much time do you want to spend trying to get your things in and out of your unit, how convenient is it to go up and down an elevator or stairs or down a long hallway carrying your items?
Climate
The last thing we speak about is what the climate is like in that particular city, and what climate do your things need to be stored in. If you are going to spend any time in the unit, you also want to know what kind of climate you are going to be working in. If it is in the 90’s-100’s outside, it is going to be about that hot in the inside of an non climate controlled storage unit. The same holds true if it is in the 30’s or what you might consider cold, it is going to be about that temperature then too.
If you have the option of renting a climate controlled unit, know that the inside of that building where your unit is located is probably going to be around 75 – 80 degrees, no matter what the temperature is outside. You might still feel the heat or cool as you work, but you are certainly going to be more comfortable working in your storage unit than you would with out climate control, and the delicate items you are storing are going to be better off as well.
I think that locational is really important, too. I would be one of the people you mentioned that is willing to drive a little farther if that storage unit is cheaper than the ones near my home. I still want my things to be easily accessible while they’re in storage. These tips will help me have the best experience with my storage.
My husband really like to have the majority of our storage in the garage for easy access. I am trying to convince him to put it in a storage unit though. I really like the benefits I have read and will show this article to him.