» Property Management

It would seem as if different self storage facilities have different ideas on what is acceptable with parking. Many people will allow certain types of vehicle to be stored in their parking lot or inside of the storage unit. This is not a big deal to the facility managers because they just tell the customers what can and what cannot be stored there. For the consumer calling around, to be told no on what another facility told them yes could be nerve racking. It would be good if everyone had the same thought process on parking.

For many storage facilities, out side parking spaces are meant for vehicles that have wheels. I spoke with a young man who wanted to rent an outside parking space to put his canoe. It wasn’t on a trailer. He stated that he didn’t need to put it inside of a storage unit as he was used to storing it outside of his home anyway. Unfortunately this wasn’t an option at a storage facility. The customer tried even harder to convince me that other facilities would store it, it just wasn’t an option for my facility. I didn’t leave him without an option though.

Luckily I had another option which was a drive up storage unit and it was a 5×15 unit. It wasn’t very expensive, it met the needs of the caller and it came with great security features. It was a win, win situation for everyone. Now he had room in his backyard to install the new playground for his kids.

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As a property manager, we have to try to be ready for anything that comes our way. Now of course we can only do so much to prepare for different things. In reality we just hope that we do not have to deal with certain things that could possibly come up. If they do, we have to take a deep breath and try to find a solution for the issue. For instance, people will call about billing issues, trouble with the gate, and so forth. This morning, I had a very common problem that had the chance to go either way in terms of it being trouble.

This morning a self storage renter called me who was at her storage unit trying to get the door to open. She was a bit flustered because she was in a hurry to get to a wedding. The wedding gift she purchased was inside of her storage unit and she couldn’t get to it. She didn’t know what to do. She said she came to the office, but couldn’t find anyone to help her. She said was able to get the lock off the door but couldn’t slide the latch over. She ended up calling the number to my facility and I was there to answer it. It was a roll up door so I told her to step on the handle which pulled the door down further so she could slide the latch over. She was elated, grabbed the gift and away she went to enjoy the wedding.

This was a situation in which it could have been very bad. The door was stuck, and I might have had to go out there to calm the customer down or get someone to the facility in order to get the door over. That would have cost the company money. Luckily, I was quick on my feet in thinking and I was able to get the customer taken care of. I was very happy it wasn’t anything serious.

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Many times when someone rents a it storage unit they may not visit their unit very often as with the caller I spoke with a few days ago. I’ll never forget how frustrated they where to begin with and how the call ended.  They arrive to the storage facility and could get their gate code to work. They thought the store made a mistake. When a customer comes in and uses their gate code, as a property manager, we do not change it at all. We leave the codes alone so the customer can use it again. If we do need to change it, we will make sure we contact the customer. Unfortunately, many customers do for them.

More times than not, It turns out that they had forgotten to simply use the symbols before and after the gate code in order to enter the gate. Although it was written with their code, it wasn’t entered. They felt a bit silly but were extremely happy that they didn’t have to wait until the next day when the store reopened. They are happy now, but they sometimes again need to be reminded of that when they have to access their storage unit after months of it being idle.

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As a property manager we have all kinds of responsibilities to ensure the store runs well. Not many customers know or pretend to know what we do on a daily basis. We try to have a list or responsibilities to do every day and we try not to get behind on our duties. Now of course we do have to also take care of our customers which have the highest priority on our list. In fact I know I would put a stop to anything else I was doing in order to take care of the customer, especially if it is a new renter. This is of course no matter what time of night it is.

A new renter of a storage unit arrived at their unit about 45 minutes before the store closed last night. They had a moving truck fully loaded with movers. The only problem was there was an orange lock on the unit, which meant that we had placed it on their unit. We do that so that no one puts their stuff in a lock when they are not supposed to. Regardless of the explanation, she was so upset. She just bought the unit and wanted to know why the store would place that on her unit, although earlier that day, I did tell her to put a lock on it before she left. It is for the safety and protection of the company and the customer that we lock up each unit that is empty before I leave for the night.

She was happy to know that the property manager was available to assist her in taking it off and that the reason why they had it on the unit was so no one could move their things into the unit accidently. She had plenty of time that night to move her belongings inside the storage space. The customer is our number one priority when it comes to our daily duties, so I am glad that we could make another customer happy.

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In our current would nothing is for sure. There have been times in which you are expecting one thing, but unfortunately another thing actually happens. That is not what you were expecting. So what you need to do is ensure you do everything that his possible to get what you are expecting. In self storage it would seem that people do not think ahead and they think that something will be there when they call upon it. People end up calling a self storage facility and tell them that they needed a self storage unit yesterday. Well the property manager will most likely tell them they might be able to help them still, but there will be times in which the customer will not be helped. They should have called ahead and reserved a unit.

People will often make phone calls while they are driving. If they call a property manager and the manger has exactly what they are looking for the customer should go ahead and reserve the space. If you are driving and cannot get to your card to reserve, you should pull over to get your card so that you do not miss out on the space. For the most part you will be in an area soon that you will be able to pull over and reserve the space.

There are a lot of reasons to reserve, but the most important one is that the unit will actually be there when you go to get it. The worst thing that could happen is that you wait to long to reserve the space and then you have to get something that you did not want. If you call ahead enough the property manager can actually put the space you want on hold. That will defiantly make your day a little easier knowing that you have the space you want.

If you reserve a storage unit, then the price and specials that you were quoted will be locked in. If you do not, then the quote may change. That is one of the worst situations when you think you are getting a space for the price you are looking for then the price changes. Now you are paying more for the space that had originally though would be cheaper. If you like the deal you are quoted by the property manager, don’t wait, go ahead and reserve the space now.

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If you talk to a property manager they will tell you that your shopping is over and you should rent form their facility. Well those are the self storage managers that are actually doing their jobs and asking for the sale. Some property managers will tell you that there is really no perfect way to shop for storage. Just find what you feel is important and go with it. You may feel that the price is the most important thing and that is fine. It is up to you. Just keep in mind that the cheapest may be a little sub standard in terms of cleanliness and security.

It is very important that property manager really sells a customer on what they have to offer. If they are not able to do this then the next manager will sell the customer that they have what they need. Most times the customer will go for it. Sometimes the presentation of the property manager will be great while others will leave something to be desired. Please do not be sucked in by promises that seem to good to be true. Make sure that you find a way to ensure that what the property manager is saying is what they will deliver.

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The key to getting it right the first time is to be patient and wait for the perfect deal. Now, you cannot sit back and wait for the perfect deal if you are in a hurry to get a space. Just make sure that you do not wait until the very last minute to start looking for a space. This is not the way to go. If you ask any property manger, they will always tell you if you know you need self storage, always reserve something sooner than later. You can never know if the storage space you need will be available.

You do not want to start the search too early, either. The best time to look for a space would be with about two to three weeks left before you need it. Typically the property manager that you talk to will be able to hold on to a self storage space for that long. They of course will want some type of commitment from you like a down payment, prepayment or holding the space with a credit card. The main point here is to ensure that you go ahead and get a storage space when you can because you want to ensure that one will be available. The worst thing to think about is not having a self storage unit when you when need it.

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Who doesn’t love a rousing game of how to stack your storage unit as tight as can be? Ok well no one probably is seeking out a game like that, but many people probably should ask their property manager how if there are any good tips that they can use in order to make good choices. Most storage units are eight feet high but not many people utilize that space. That is not good money saving ideas. Your property manager is there for a reason, why not ask them questions. One thing that people have to realize is that typically there are more storage units available in addition to the one they are looking at. Let your local property manager help you.

The best way to use the space in your storage unit efficiently is to know how to pack everything into the space. You do not just want to throw everything into the storage unit and worry about it later. Some people do not plan properly and they run out of time with having to return their rental trucks and so forth. So they end up just throwing their belongings into the storage space. That could be very bad because of trying to find something later and also in the amount of room you are wasting.

You will probably be spending extra money that you do not have to because you could actually go with a smaller space. A good way to get everything efficiently into the space is to use boxes for your things. They sell a variety of boxes at the site so you should definitely check it out. With boxes, especially getting ones that are the same, will allow you to stack high and take up all the floor space. If you are one who needs to get to all their belongings, maybe you should talk with your property manager about getting a larger space so you can maneuver around. Just ask about the cost difference.

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If you are looking to rent at a facility that has too high of a price, you may want to continue shopping around to see if you can get a lower price from one of the competitors. You may be able to get the first facility to match the price. That way, you are able to get the space that you want at the facility you want at a price that you want. It is ok to ask the property manager what they think about matching another one of their competitor’s prices in order to gain your business.

Of course It is completely up to the property manger to decide whether or not the change in price is valid and they want to gain your business that bad. In reality every manager will want to gain as much of the business they can, but they might be in a comfortable place to where they do not have push as much to reach their occupancy goals. In some markets managers will do what they can to get people in to their stores. There have been many self storage properties that will advertise that they will beat any advertised or local price. They of course will make sure that they are comparing apples to apples.

For the facilities that believe they need to advertise they will be and or match any local competitor they have to be careful. Some facilities are sneaky and crafty to the point in which they will match prices in their local area without advertising it. So if a customer wants to rent there at the price given, they are happy to accept those people. They will match a price or special from time to time. For the facilities that decide to match prices consistently they are missing out on charging their regular prices for the customers that chose them without shopping around. They are almost pushing the customers to shopping around. Be careful and fully think through your strategy for matching prices.

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It is very important for you tell your local manager what you really want to do in terms of your self storage needs. The worst thing that can happen is that you try to make the manager on site guess what you want instead of telling them what you are looking for.  One of the keys to self storage is the partnership of the self storage customer to the self storage manager. There is not a need for each side to make the other side feel pressured or stressed.  This is especially true whenever there is money involved.

Finding out your self storage needs shouldn’t be a mystery or something like that. It should be as simple as you telling the property manager what you need. It should be that simple. The more you tell the property manager, they more they will know. Sometimes it is the simplest or smallest detail that could really help the property manager find out exactly what you are in need of. Telling the manager on site if you are staying more than a month, a year or indefinitely could really help drive the down the cost of your monthly rental. If you are guarded about them knowing to much information could really hurt you in the long run.

One thing that happens is when a customer just tells the manager they are looking for a place to store their home. The property manager will most likely try to get more detailed in what you are storing so they can find the right size for you. Some people just say household things. That does not always help the property manager. One person’s household things could be a lot different than another person’s household items. When customers are vague the manager’s hands are tied. They might end up offering you something that you do not particular need which could come across as if you are selling you something you don’t need.

It also helps the property manager if you have a preference when renting a storage unit such as easy access, a drive up unit or a climate controlled space. If that is the case, let the property manager know. Some people really believe the less amount of information they give, they can trick the manager into giving them deals they wouldn’t normally give. This is not always the case. The special they give might not fit what you need, and that just turns into an unnecessary argument. Help the property manager help you find the best solution for your self storage needs.

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