r/selfstorage

I am looking for storage space short-term (~6 months). I see posts from people having mixed experiences with storage companies.

- Any experience with Extra space storage around these areas?

- I see u-haul and public storage prices are much higher - are those better?

- Is it better to do upfront 4 months payment or go month by month where you can select unit - I see they are jacking up the prices every 3-6M

- Should I take insurance plan from Extra storage while booking online or buy from outside?

- Theft prevention - don't have any valuable stuff per-se (Generic college things) but a unit break-in definitely creates headache. Should i personally visit the units and check it out - what should I be looking for while renting to prevent these like problems?

Thank you in advance for your help !

This is my biggest fail as a manager. Tenants that decline insurance, sign the insurance denial, then do not send in their policy fall through. When I get busy I don’t do a great job of tracking down who needs to send it in, and I haven’t found a way in Hummingbird to track this.

Obviously no security system can guarantee that nothing will ever be stolen. But people are paying to store their belongings somewhere that often advertises things like cameras, gated access, or other security measures. If break-ins and theft are a recurring problem at storage facilities, is it fair for customers to walk away with the impression that their belongings are reasonably secure?

Hi everyone!

I’ve been a property manager for various storage facilities for about 10+ years.

Recently someone asked me what I did for work and I told them I was a property manager. When they further asked and found out it was at a storage facility they commented “thats not real property management” which then got me thinking if I’m falsely advertising my job position.

In my opinion I do everything a property manager at an apartment building/mobile home park would do, minus evictions etc. Its obviously different, but I don’t feel less than just because its storage.

What are your thoughts?

Considering consulting with them or having them take over management of our site. Does anyone have experience with this company?

Looking to potentially invest in our first self-storage facility. Experienced investor and underwriter, but not in this specialty asset class. Listing agent says rents are currently under market value ($195/unit per month currently vs they say $250/unit per month is market rate).

When you are purchasing and doing your underwriting to decide what to offer, are you underwriting and offering based on the as-is P&L, based on the proforma P&L, or somewhere in between? Essentially, the existing caprate (at the price that I think the seller will accept) sucks, but the proforma caprate at this price is good. Is the correct purchase price somewhere in the middle? How difficult is it to immediately raise monthly rents $55? Apparently it never has vacancy and there is a waitlist.

Bonus question: we need to do a cost seg to reduce our taxable income. How is this asset class for cost segs? What % of basis can I expect to take in deduction year 1?