I have had a unit for almost two years now and I realized I have not opened it in six months. Part of me thinks that means I do not need half the stuff in there. But every time I think about cleaning it out, I get overwhelmed and just keep paying the monthly fee. For people who have been storing for a while, how often do you actually go back to sort through things?
So I rented a storage space ten years ago, and since that time the location has gone through two owners. At one point my things were moved to a new location by the previous company, and they asked me for permission to cut the lock, which I gave. They put a new lock on the unit to keep it secure. Later, that company sold the location to Cubesmart.
Years later, I ask to see inside my unit (I'm current on payment) and Cubesmart claims they were never given the key to this new lock when they took over the building and say I have to get it from Extra Space Storage, the previous owners, even though it's a facility lock and should have been handed over with the unit.
I ask them to cut the lock, but they claim their policy is to only cut the lock if I sign a form waiving all my rights to the unit for any damage from negligence or other causes, and basically give up my right to my stuff not being destroyed.
Even though that's unenforceable under local law (NY) I don't want to risk signing it and it seems strange to ask. Moreover, their own storage agreement says they can cut the lock with 5 days notice if they need to WITHOUT my permission for a wide variety of reasons including maintenance, so clearly it's not the only way to get into the unit.
I'm concerned they're not being completely honest with me. Does anyone know if Cubesmart really does have such a "lock-cutting " policy, or have suggestions?
Just wondering if anyone has made the jump from managing operations themselves to a 3rd party service and what that “looks” like.
I’d like to know: What their cut of income is generally, what responsibilities they take ownership of vs. what I would retain etc.
If that’s typically negotiated, I’d continue with site maintenance and unit clean outs as required. The day to day (move-ins/outs, phone calls) etc. would be them.
I am a self-storage newbie. (I've never actually had one myself.) I live in the East Bay (Oakland). I am emptying out my late mom's house and have a bunch of boxes and plastic containers with various family keepsakes, heirlooms, etc. most of it is books, paper, photos, clothing and fabrics, and various wall hangings and decorative objects, as well as some records and a few electronics. Most of these are very precious to me.
I am looking for a 10x10 climate controlled space to store all this stuff. I intend to continue sorting and possibly downsizing these items but I figure that the storage may well be with me for decades to come in some form.
I would love some advice from more experienced storage renters on how to find a reasonably priced climate controlled unit. I'm discovering that it's hard to find climate controlled at all. Also I am reading a lot about how the prices go up and up and up and that seems like it would become unsustainable very quickly. I am willing to drive a bit away from Oakland. Maybe half an hour or 40 minutes? to find the right space. I would like to stay out of San Francisco though.
Has anyone had success and/or challenges creating a new Google Business when rebranding a facility? We want to make sure that Google doesn't merge the old business page with the new rebranded one. Specifically, we don't want to take on all the bad reviews from the previous brand. From a quick search it sounds like sometimes Google may merge a new business page with the old one if it sees it as a duplicate, but not sure if it would apply to this case. In our case we would have a new name, signage, website and phone number.
I was current on payment.
They caught me once sleeping in it.
Then came hell. I had a rental truck I was using repo’d from me. The repo guy said he’d let me unload the stuff in front of my storage unit but fast.
This unload from a 26’ Penske took hours. All night, actually.
Then for the remaining week, I had to get all of the stuff into the unit and I work every day pretty much all night long every day until it was all in there and they saw me on camera doing it. They knew what I was doing and the manager even said we know you’re in a situation right now so I got it all in and while I was doing that getting it in they terminated my lease.
Then they gave me the termination date and it arrived and I couldn’t get my stuff into the truck fast enough on that particular date so the following day took my ability to access my unit away from me and so I only got maybe a pick up truck full of stuff out the rest of it still in there or they said it was actually disposed of and that was they said they were disposing of it within like a couple weeks ago my termination date I can’t believe it
The cops won’t do anything they won’t do anything so I’m considering getting in there with a horoscope camera and looking over the ledge or the rollup door to see if my stuff is still in there
Does Right Space act this way all the time I mean these are all of my belongings everything I own I didn’t do anything really that wrong. I like I said I was currently on my payment. What’s the deal? Any opinions?
I mean at this point if the cops aren’t gonna help me, they’re gonna help me. I’ll cut the lock and break out all my stuff and take the chance of going to jail I mean, what’s the court date and some jail time over losing all of the stuff that you own.???
I'm looking at my first storage rental and I've read the basic tips about climate control and access hours. But I'm worried about the things that only become obvious after you've already moved your stuff in.
For people who have been renting for a while, what questions do you wish you had asked the manager before signing? Things like how often rates actually go up, or if there are any hidden fees for after-hours access. Also, is it worth asking about how long the current manager has been there or the turnover rate of tenants? I'm trying to spot problems before I'm locked in. Any advice on what to look for in the lease agreement that people usually skip? I'd also like to know if there's a way to tell if a facility is going to raise rent aggressively within the first year. Thanks.
I went to my storage today after a month and rodents went through everything. Poop everywhere, chewed the couch up, etc. what are my options? In California if that helps
Curious what everyone here is using for their PMS/management software.
I’ve been looking into building some tools for self storage operators and managers, and I’m trying to get a better idea of what people actually use day to day.
Are you on SiteLink, storedge, Tenant Inc, Cubby, Easy Storage, QuikStor, something else? Old school spreadsheets?
Also, what annoys you about it?
Anything you wish your current software did better? Could be reporting, rentals, payments, delinquency, rate increases, lead follow up, reviews, call tracking, auctions, gate access, tenant communication, whatever.
Just trying to understand what’s actually being used and what problems people still run into.
I see lots of posts about the pain points of the FMS systems, and all of the new vibe coded ones people want to sell. But I have a different question.
Let's say you accept that all the software is mediocre. Fine. What are you actually doing on the backend to stay on top of your business?
Are you logging into FMS, Google Business Profile, Search Console, your task board, your bank separately every morning? Or have you figured out a better way to get a pulse on your facility without spending an hour clicking around?
Because I feel like nobody talks about this part.
Facility I use has had rodent problems in the past, they came through my units even with no food, vitamins, liquids, etc, basically tore up some new rugs and blankets I had. Since then I have moved everything to a new unit, all in plastic bins and haven't had an issue, early on they passed through so saw a couple droppings but that was it. I have a small refrigerator that I need to store, it didn't get much use. Nothing spilled inside or anything like that, though I'm concerned of maybe the freon/evap? I don't know much about them, just curious if it's a bad idea.