What are you keeping in Public Storage?
 

I have seen all these shows on TV, Storage Wars, Auction Hunters, etc. and I can't help but thinking about this. Most of the stuff they find is semi-crap. I don't have a storage unit, but I have rented in the past. Usually for short periods (clean the house out to show it for realtors, between years of college, etc.). I can't see using it as an extension of my house/garage unless I had something that was absolutely worth keeping there. For instance, I see camping junk and Christmas stuff in these things....assuming it costs $60 (I'm sure on the LOW end) to keep stuff in one, that's $720/year to keep it. It had better be worth it. Plus, then there's the hassle of actually going there to get it, etc.

I have thought about keeping my track stuff in one, but I can stash my little tire trailer in my mom's garage, and the tires in the garage and basement. I do have a 2 car garage and a decent basement. I guess you either make it up in mortgage, storage or don't own it.

So, I'm curious, what kinds of things are YOU storing offsite. :confused:

After running out of garage space at home to house vehicles, we wound up placing a Corvette and a ski boat in a new storage facility close to the house

Jimmy Hoffa

What?! Then who the hell am I keeping in mine?! :eek:

Kim Hoffa? or Dana Hoffa maybe..........

I have a family member with 3 storage units, as well as a 2nd home and a significant portion of his office space, jammed with mostly-worthless crap. (Everything from some junker cars to piles of cardboard boxes). It can really get to be a problem and substantial expense. Not including the 2nd home, he pays >$20K/year to store this garbage...and will not even discuss getting rid of any of it.

I've never used a storage unit...

I had one when trying to sell our house. We put tons of furniture in storage to make the house look bigger.

When I moved into the current house, the garage was a little smaller, so I sold some stuff.

One of the storage companies here used to allow bands to rent/rehearse in their sheds... all hours of the day and night. The bands were mostly "alternative/punk/etc." types.

After a few years, some people in an adjacent neighborhood got real tired of it and got city hall to disallow it because even though they were 1/8 mile away, it was pretty obnoxious background noise if they were in their yards. You wouldn't believe all the whining and letters to the editor in the local entertainment rag screaming, "Where are we gonna practice now?" and calling the homeowners "nazis," etc. It was hilarious.

if you have to pay someone else to store your ****...

then you have too much ****

Probably true.

Have been thinking about getting another unit.

No basements in TX homes so storage is limited.

I'm the guy that always has that hard to find widget.

If I know it's really useless I toss it.

Why is that?

100+

I have never ever paid to store stuff. I do have a lot of junk in my attic I need to throw away.

We have one that has a bunch of crap that we could have replaced with the money we have spent on storage.

Hookers and blow.....


I haven't been there in a while though, so they may be dead hookers... You never really can be sure with these things.

Many years ago, a friend used to keep his drums in one as his practice space...a humongous kit that would make Neil Peart proud. He'd visit several times a week (afternoons only) for hours at a time...never got a complaint, but he was VERY good and it was impressive to watch him "work out".

In my area 2 main reasons.

You either have a couple of inches of dirt on top on solid rock which you need to drill, chisel or blast or clay soil that expands and shrinks too much to make it practical.

nothing...I don't even use on line storage for pictures.

I keep my trailer at a public storage space because storing it at my house is not allowed.

Its kind of storage unit plus hangar which I rent, has 1 airplane, 1 VW Beetle, 2 Porsche's about 16 wheels and tires, engine parts, body parts, dish washer, snow blower and lawn mower etcetcetcetc..... All for $135 a month!

I've got a 914 and a lifetime supply of Porsche parts in my storage unit.

Jackson

A couble of Lawyer buddies keep their Harleys & some changes of cloths, & a pair of Jet skis. They show up in suits, change into riding clothes, take off for a few hours, come back change & go home.. I see them down at the club, their wives don't know about the bikes. Not really public storage though, but small warehouse space..

I keep my meth lab there.

My Dad's Monte Carlo.

angela

When I retired rather suddenly after a knee injury. My wife anf I bought a 3 acre hobby farm. I had a lovely house plus a 3500 sf barn,and a 900sf drive shed. Before long I had several extra cars and a 27 and 34 ft sailboat. More storage space makes it too easy to aquire extra stuff just because it's a good deal. I,ve been downsizing for a couple years now. Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a uhaul?

Two BMW motorcycles, 1959 Austin-Healey, lots of Jag and 911 parts and so on...

I started my biz out of one. I would just keep adding units next to each other as I needed them I had 18" wide racks down each side and it gave the right room to work for my bicycle parts biz.

By the time I had 1,600 or so feet rented I got into a 2,500 sq foot place. I'm now at 6,600sq

Oh man, I don't have anything in storage right now but I did for several years. I had two 40 ft. storage units at $285 a month & a 20 ft. container at $142 a month. I lived in a really small place and was storing stuff until I got my house built. One unit was mostly dedicated to P parts & the rest was for house stuff & $18K worth of oak flooring. I'm really glad I don't have to do that anymore.

Talk about the business to get into!

I can't believe how many people use these things on a semi permanent basis paying far more in a year or two than the stuff inside is worth. I'd kill to get into this biz...

I've used them only for temporary situations - to stage things at the beginning or end of a move, on summer break back in school, etc. The costs of using for anything other than temporary storage are absurd when compared to either buying/building a home for stuff on one's own property (even factoring in the cost of buying property, I think it's a win since you get a big tax break for property ownership and only a bill for a storage unit), for most of them the hours of access are highly restrictive, etc.

Like I said it's a business I'd absolutely LOVE to get into - I don't see his you could possibly lose money as a self-storage owner. Minimal upkeep/operating costs, minimal customer contact, big reliable checks rolling in monthly - cha-CHING!

My large collection of vintage Bugattis.

My wife and I built and owned one for seven years. People stored all kinds of crazy stuff.

VIrtually non-existant frostline. In the north, you have to build the foundation so that it get below the frostline. No frostline = slab on ground.

Indeed. This would be perfect for you.

You would have f-all to do all day except post on PPOT.

Oh wait....

Interestingly enough all my work still gets done - done well and usually done in less time than it takes my coworkers - and I have the Annual EPRs and merit raises to prove it. Can I help it if I can get my stuff done in 4-6 hours per day when it takes most people 7 or 8?

Jealousy is such an ugly personality trait.

Maybe if idiot lawyers like yourself hadn't fkked up our economy and society so badly I could do what I've always wanted to do and open up my own business, but seeing as things are still screwed up, it's still too high-risk and still too burdensome in terms of regulations and taxes, I'll continue to punch a clock here and get my "thank you" card every other week. Yes, I might be (seriously) under-utilized and bored here, but given the alternatives available (not many) the upside is that you get to enjoy the benefit of my continued regular presence here. You are fortunate and lucky. Make the most of it, as it might not last and might not always be the case.

Cheers!

Mostly car-related stuff. I often think of ditching/selling the stuff, but as is usually the case with storage, I always find something in there that's useful. Most recently, I've been looking to buy a new set of wheels for the Z3 coupe, since I don't like the black BBSs it came with. Some online searching for ideas led to the discovery that Z4 wheels can fit, and I happened to have a set:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316797655.jpg

Seeing as how I was looking at spending $700 on new wheels and another $500 or so on tires, storing these saved me some dough; I'll break even on storage for the year. I could come out ahead if I sell the BBS CHs rather than store them.

Some coarse language (but hysterical and true):
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In the phone book of my county of 30,000 people I see 23 storage companies listed.
I'm just back from riding 3500 km in the Alps, want to guess how many storage compounds I saw there?
Jim

At one point, I lived in an apt and had to rebuild the engine of a '69 riviera including having a place to put the riviera. I rented a 10x20 at $141/mo for a while. It held the car, some shelving, and 3 motors.

We've used them short term a couple of times when we needed some extra space in the house. We usually end up getting stuff when people move, downsize or die. It takes us a bit to get through the stuff to figure out what we should keep and what to get rid of.

dudette! my Dad let me drive his to my senior dinner in 1978. 'Twas black, gold pin striped and red interior. One hot ride!!

Are you sure its not a Gran Torino? ;)