Staying Safe With Self Storage

It is easy to forget that self storage units are, well, complicated.  Indeed, as you are calling around to all of your local facilities, a lot of the information that you are getting is going to start bleeding together.  Of course, there are a few ways for you to shop around safely and make sure that you are making a good decision at the end of the day.  Simply follow a basic protocol, here, and be sure that you are not letting your local facilities bleed together too badly. 

The first thing that you are going to want to do, here, is create a spreadsheet that you can use to keep track of all of the numbers that you are getting on the phone.  Using your spreadsheet, you are going to be able to keep track of pricing information, security information, and addresses.  At the end of the day, when you are done shopping around, you are going to be able to sort through your spreadsheet and get rid of the facilities that are not going to work out well for you. 

Of course, another great way to keep your local self storage facilities sorted out is to use an online mapping service to figure out which ones are actually close enough to where you live.  The last thing that you are going to want to do, here, is reserve a unit from a self storage facility that is super far away from where you live.  While you might stand to save a meager couple of dollars per month for agreeing to the inconvenience, you are going to curse yourself when you realize that you are wasting a ton of gasoline just getting to your belongings.  Thus, you are going to want to be sure that you are running addresses through an online mapping service before you commit to any facility in particular.  As you are running through them, cross the ones that are too far away off of your list and forget about them. 

Finally, here, you are always going to want to be sure that you are attending site tours at the facilities that remain on your list after your filtering efforts.  As you are talking to property managers and seeing the facilities in person, you are going to want to be sure that you are keeping your eyes open for all of the security features that you are going to need to keep your belongings safe.  Thus, keep your eyes peeled for video surveillance cameras, door alarms, and access controlled gates.  As you are on your tour, be sure that you ask your property manager whether she actually lives on the property, as you are going to want to be sure that real human eyes are going to be watching over your belongings when you are gone.  While mechanical security features are a great thing to have as well, there is nothing on this earth that can replace a pair of fastidious eyes when it comes to keeping your belongings safe. 

At the end of the day, you are going to be glad that you put some effort into distinguishing your local self storage providers.  While it is easy to lump them all together when you are shopping around, this proclivity is downright dangerous when you consider where it can land you.  Indeed, when you are going to trust a facility with the safekeeping of your belongings, sometimes your entire home, you have to be sure that you are doing everything within your power to choose the safest one that is in your area.  And as you can see, a little bit of shopping around can get you to where you are looking to go, in these regards.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.