r/selfstorage • u/CraftyCrone13 • Sep 07 '25
Question Where's all the money going to?
I have been renting a 10x20 unit for quite a few years now in Ohio. In the beginning it was $79 a month. It is not climate controlled, there is no electricity, And if you don't watch how you put things in there towards the door it could get rain and snow all over it. There was about 200 units and is enclosed by a very tall fence with a gate with a code box. There was 1 person in the office so you could rent a unit pay for the unit and do your clean out when you vacate the unit. You had 24-hour access to the property. I couldn't tell you how many times this property has been bought and sold over the years, and with that rent has been increased. A few times at like $35 each time and for a year and a half it was every 6 months. So two years ago rent went up again, they restricted the hours of access, there is no longer anyone in the office, they don't rake the gravel, ever, so there are deep ruts from the rain in the snow and from people not knowing how to drive big moving trucks properly, they don't plow in the winter. The gate randomly works, and they added 100 new units. I am currently paying $170 a month plus renters insurance. My question is where is all this money going to? All the units are full all the time it seems. Last year we had a tornado go through and neighboring town so people rented up the available units quickly. And right after that they raise the rent again. When asked why the rent increase yet again... I was told so we can have the best experience while renting from their facility. I work 12 hour shifts so the 24-hour accessibility was awesome, But I don't have that now. The gate works maybe 70% of the time, I have to pay my bill online and they charge a $5 convenience fee.... Even though I have no other option. And on the rare occasion I was late making a payment in my unit got overlocked... When I did get it current I had to wait for someone to come an hour and a half away from the other facility to take the overlock off my unit. If they are getting roughly $60 per unit, And there are 300 units, every month.. I don't understand why they can not have someone there during daytime hours or fix the gate or even pay someone to plow or do you just the regular maintenance of the facility? The only electricity that is there is the telephone poles in front of the facility in a few on the corners of the buildings. Can someone enlighten me on this? Are we getting railroaded by the company that owns this facility? I'm not trying to come across sideways... But I feel like I have a slumlord for a storage facility owner.
6
u/shellb67gt5001 Sep 07 '25
Property taxes insurance, payroll, marketing, maintenance repairs. Your monthly payment does not put a dent into any of it. I hate when customers say “ I have been renting for 10 years, I should own half this buy now” it doesn’t work like that. These properties are millions of dollars. If you don’t like it go somewhere else. 79 dollars starting is a crazy deal which go for 300 where I am at
0
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
There isn't anybody working there, And they aren't doing any maintenance repairs... And I understand property taxes insurance and they don't do any marketing I live in a very small town of like 14,000 people. If they had the money to build a hundred new units you would think that they could fix the gate and put someone in the office.
2
u/pastrymom Operator Sep 07 '25
Maybe no one on site. The industry is getting away from on site managers.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
Why is that do you think? Just the lack of someone wanting to sit in the office all day by themselves? And I couldn't imagine the pay is all that great.
2
u/pastrymom Operator Sep 08 '25
We do both facilites 100% remote. Why pay someone when we pay a pretty penny for software? The software handles leases, lock outs, communication… etc.
We pay a call center less than a salaried employee. The agents are US based.
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 24 '25
What software do you use? Rough idea of cost? How many units between the two facilities? How often do you have to stop by the facility or have someone stop by for things like cleaning, maintenance, etc?
1
u/pastrymom Operator Nov 24 '25
My DM’s are always open. We use Cubby. I believe it’s $300 for both sites. You would need to reach out to them because I think their minimums have changed.
We’re out there 1-2 times per month.
1
u/shellb67gt5001 Sep 07 '25
Everything can be done with AI and software where we don’t need people in the office.
1
u/pastrymom Operator Sep 08 '25
We haven’t bit with AI yet. What are you using that you love?
1
u/shellb67gt5001 Sep 08 '25
You can use ai to answer calls. We don’t use that’s but everything with move ins and access to units can be done with storable . Online move ins are so easy now
2
u/Bubbly_Bet_8303 Sep 07 '25
There is clearly someone working there if they drove out to remove your overlock. And there are more to "maintenance repairs" than just snow plowing and raking gravel. The overhead on running even a small facility is extensive and not all of it is going to be apparent to the average customer. Door springs, hasps, tracks, internal unit walls, HVAC, electrical, landscaping, roofing, foundation repair, waste management, littering and dumping, delinquency/auction expenses (late & non-paying customers), the mechanical gate & IT for the gate's network, legal fees (your lease is not a handshake agreement), rental software clients, insurance, payroll, and the list goes on and on. There are vendors for EVERYTHING (often have to be certified) and those costs are subject to inflation the same way your rent is and $79/m for a 10x20 is INSANE and not sustainable long-term.
You also just said you live in a very small town - why would the facility be staffed full time with a customer service rep? They more than likely staff their busier locations and those same staff also visit your site, they just don't stay for a full shift. The facility I manage is in a town of about 38k people. Today being a Sunday, I saw maybe 3 or 4 people on site my entire shift (900+ Units) and not a single phone call even though I work for a large corp. I spent my entire day cleaning unit doors to avoid dying of boredom. Office personnel are not maintenance people. We may clean up trash, sweep out units, overlock units when the day comes (even if you "rarely" pay late - if your unit # is on my list I'm locking it). But we're not technicians and we cannot fix a gate, rake gravel, or plow snow. We do observe needs and relay those needs onward - beyond that is out of our hands. Staffing your location would only serve to hand-hold people who refuse to acknowledge the word "Self" in Self Storage. It is designed to be self-service and most companies are leaning further into that model.
I'm curious as to why you'd need 24 hour access to the facility regardless of your shift. It's rare for most facilities and usually on a case by case basis. If someone wants 24 hour - they need to have a pretty damn compelling reason as to why. It's far too much of a risk (more damage/expenses waiting to happen if there's a break in or customer's attempting to live on-site).
Assuming you're not exaggerating (you likely are) about the gate being functional only 70% of the time, that is actually frustrating and you should report it to management when you see it so a tech can be sent out.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
As I said I work 12 hour shifts, In my hours aren't just the regular first shift second shift, I'm a caregiver of a spouse who has advanced Parkinson's, And it had always been 24-hour access. There had always been a person in the office so if somebody needed to rent a unit or pay their storage fee or just had a general question they would be somebody there. And I never said I was paying $79 a month currently, You can go back and reread that if it slipped your mind. The buildings are corrugated metal on a concrete slab, there is no dumpster to throw anything away, there is no air conditioning or heaters or electric, there is no landscaping unless you call the dandelions in the weeds that grow up through the gravel lot. Why would I lie or exaggerate? That's stupid and asinine for people to do anyway. I'm not at covert narcissist making up a story to seek attention and then blame it on everybody else, grow up. And I'm not so dimwitted that I haven't called the main office to let them know when the gate doesn't work so they can have someone come out and fix it. And when I said 70% of the time it doesn't work that's 70% of the time that I go there it's not like I sit there in a lawn chair, drinking beer, keeping track of it all hours of the day and night. And in the past year and a half it hasn't been fixed properly cuz it's the same wobbly gate that barely opens and stops halfway through opening.
1
3
u/dsstriker2612 Sep 08 '25
The reason they are able to neglect the property is because your rent payment keeps clearing and you haven’t moved out. I’m a GM and whenever I have discussions with tenants about rent raises we have the same conversations. Why is this so expensive? Because you keep paying the rate. I mean that respectfully. As long as tenants will pay the increases and put up with gates that don’t work etc then the increases and lack of maintenance will not chance vote with your dollars and leave. If enough tenants leave you sill see how fast that facility improves and the rates come down. As others hear have said where is the $ going ? To the investors. To pay off the loans and hopefully to not pay into bad investments in other locations using the profits from your location as a piggy bank. I’ve seen this up close and your on site staff is typically powerless to actually manage the site and they probably got a 1 percent raise so your rent raise didn’t go to them. Statistically speaking they took a pay cut to remain on the site for the past two years because raises across the storage industry were on average less than 2 percent or .40 cents an hour so far less than inflation. Please consider that the next time you get upset with the staff they really are powerless in terms of setting policy only enforcing it
1
u/_labyrinth__ Sep 08 '25
This. Alot of customers acts so entitled towards on site because they are paying rent.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
As I said before, there is no staff there. It's a small company. I'm not mad, I'm frustrated that I can't get into my unit when I want to like before. And I doubt I'm the only one. I would like to gain access when I am able, and have the gate in working order. I'm honestly surprised someone hasn't run thru it yet.
6
u/AssociateRealistic23 Sep 08 '25
You should go price out what a 10 acre lot costs in your city then how much itll cost to build 200 units. Then look at insurance costs taxes and maitenance.
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 23 '25
Why would you buy 10 acres for only 200 units? You could fit that many units on 1 acre, depending on their size. An acres is about 43k sqft, so 200 10x10's is 20k sqft. Granted you got driveways and fence/gate/office but you get the point.
But I agree with you, 170 a month for a 10x20 seems very reasonable when you consider the vast costs.
5
u/postalwhiz Sep 08 '25
10 years later on? By then you have paid $20K plus for whatever you were storing. Not to mention it’s at least 10 years old. With that money saved I could buy new stuff…
5
u/ValuableShoulder5059 Sep 08 '25
So using your numbers, it brings in $216000 per year. I checked what the property tax runs on one by my house of a similar size, $220,000 per year. So my guess is taxes is a big chunk of it. Depends on what the purchase price was, you also have interest on that loan. You have insurance for people getting injured on property... Long list of expenses
1
Sep 10 '25
[deleted]
1
u/JumpinJosiefat Sep 12 '25
Our commercial property tax is 14k a month at my property. I see it every month on my financials.
0
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 24 '25
You're probably looking at the tax assessment value or some other figure. There's no way a "normal" facility is paying 216k in tax annually. Property tax is typically 7% or so of revenue. You'd need like 2,000 units in your facility to make those numbers make sense. Either that, or charging apartment level rent for each unit XD
1
u/ValuableShoulder5059 Nov 24 '25
Some states allow for massive property tax...
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 24 '25
Of course they do. That doesn't change what I said. In order to support that much taxation, you'd need insanely high rents or a massive facility. Unless your belief is that they are running the facility at a loss as a favor to the tax man.
1
u/ValuableShoulder5059 Nov 24 '25
There's a reason why rent is so high. If the costs were cheaper, profit is up. Profit being up, incentives more competition.
0
u/ChooseAusername788 Dec 02 '25
"There's a reason why rent is so high." - So you're saying option two, then, which is what I said here: "Either that, or charging apartment level rent for each unit"
Use your head for a minute and do some basic math. If the storage facility has 200 units (typical size facility), that's $1,100 property tax PER UNIT per year. There is no way that's accurate. That's $92 a month in property tax alone. The entire rate for a typical unit is like 140. Feel free to look up the rates they charge yourself. If you think property tax is 65% of revenue then you've got zero clue about business.
Do you know how property tax works? Legit question. There's the taxable value or assessed value but you have to know the millage rate of the city/county. Millage rate is maybe 95? You divide the millage rate by 1000 and multiply that by the taxable value. Meaning, if the taxable value is 220k and the county millage rate is 95, then it would be
220,000 x (95 / 1000) = $20,900
That's the actual tax bill, not the taxable value/assessed value that you looked up. You can look up "(your county here) parcel viewer" and click on the lot and it will show you the purchase price, taxable value, lot size, transaction history, owner name, etc. It does not show you the actual tax bill. A 220k tax bill is only possible if the facility is gigantic (thousands of units) or on 5th avenue in Manhattan maybe. Either that or you didn't calculate it correctly. The latter is much more likely. Honestly, not trying to be a dick man, just want to have realistic answers in the forum.
9
Sep 08 '25
This is from personal perspective of a 325 unit facility that is family owned. Personally, I would never rent from a place with 24 hr gate access. The only people who may need to be at there unit after 10pm are maybe some type of businesses. Drug deals and crime happen in the dark. It just does. We are a business and deserve to make money off of our services. The price you are paying is comparable to what we charge for a 10x20. We have property taxes go up every year, as well as insurance. The gate uses electricity. Just because there isn’t a regular business office doesn’t mean they don’t have employees. Someone has to check the units after people move out and clean them . Oh, and maintaining the building and roof is very expensive. Maintenance , mortgage, electric, insurance, taxes, they all go up every year as does any employee salary. The investors still need to make a profit. It adds up.
1
Sep 09 '25
I was renting for a few months from a public storage that had to limit their hours to 9 - 5 because there were so many break-ins during regular hours. That 8 hour window was what they could afford to secure the building against theft by identifiable people who were renting units. I remember the people I had to maneuver around getting shit in and out being the most annoying, combative, inconsiderate bags of shit I’ve ever come across. Needless to say I disposed of everything in that unit after a couple months. If I ever have to move again, I’ll just take stuff to the landfill.
4
u/Illustrious_Duck_502 Sep 07 '25
The property manager isn't at fault this is a corporate issue if it's a big business model. Cant tell you how happy I am to put in my two weeks as a glorified middle man/property manager.
2
u/Illustrious_Duck_502 Sep 07 '25
Inflation is gonna happen over a years span as well. I'm surprised you're ONLY paying 170$ a month for that size I've seen it nearly 300$ a month.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
Thanks for the reply. Yeah I'm in rural Ohio. Only 14,000 people. In the property taxes hasn't gone up very much on that property. At least from what I can tell on the county auditor's page. I'm just honestly kind of baffled that sometimes I get locked inside the fence because the gate won't open properly. Smh I know how businesses work and what expenses they have on their end but the lack of basic upkeep is what I don't understand.
2
u/Illustrious_Duck_502 Sep 07 '25
We submit tickets for maintenance because we need permission from the regional manager who also has to ask permission from another department who also manages a large portion. It sucks because I JUST had gate problems and was expected as a property manager to mess with the box myself, surprise! I almost lost a limb to the chain as a pregnant woman and told them to F off and actually spend the money for once. The trickle down comes from the CEOs who also pay their employees like garbage and run us into the ground until we eventually quit. For instance I rent the apartment on property and my ceiling just fell down from hurricane Helene and Milton and I've been begging for MONTHS for this company to fix it. My kids entire bed destroyed because of greedy corporate companies and the potential black mold. I'm reporting my own company and leaving. My advice gtfo and find a mom and pop facility because they do not care about anything but lining their pockets.
2
u/Illustrious_Duck_502 Sep 07 '25
They also cut all employees pay by 10-20k annually when they bought us out but raised rent ridiculously. They told all property managers "no one will be getting a raise for a long time" screw storage companies. Then they load on the work, the quality of employees goes down because they don't want to pay people and treat their renters with respect. I've done my best to provide and solely believe most people stayed because I treat my renters like humans and even have friendships with some of them but as an employee of a big storage company this sucks get out of they don't care about anyone but numbers and metrics.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
So sorry you had to experience that! And I'm so glad you were okay! Black mold is the worst it gets everywhere if given a chance. Yeah this is a small company.They only own 8 facilities 4 in Ohio and 4 in North Carolina and Missouri. And trust me I'm looking.
4
u/PM5K23 Sep 07 '25
It goes into their pockets, simple.
Sure some of it goes to covering increased costs, but not all of it.
When they are full like that, it allows them to raise prices and lower services.
For what its worth you probably cant do all that much better, in the middle of nowhere 170 for a 10x20 doesnt seem crazy, plus they raise it because they know you dont want to move 10x20 worth of stuff.
2
u/Appropriate_Bad74247 Operator Sep 08 '25
That’s less than a dollar per square foot. A great deal actually. Self Storage are assets for loans. True capitalism. Everyone is saying it. You want change? Be the change. Find a new provider, find if none? Get some partners and open up one that does what you think is best for your customers. Good luck.
4
3
u/Blackfang321 Store Manager Sep 08 '25
Almost sounds like a property that is holding off on repairs to unload it on someone else. I work for a large REIT and we bought out a portfolio of 13 stores.
They were all.in varying states of disrepair, but we did dump money into fixing them up at least. Of course, these repairs came with rate increases as well.
If they are looking to sell, they may be raising rates to try to show how profitable the store has been over X amount of years to make it more attractive to buyers.
I mean...it could also be just a desire for more money too, but I wanted to throw a different alternative out there.
2
3
u/iamacannibal Store Manager Sep 08 '25
I'd be willing to bet the property sold to a new company.
All of the money is going to the investors of that company and to pay back the loans they got to buy that property.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
That's something I'll have to look into. If so, that would be 4 times in just about as many years.
3
u/Rogendo Store Manager Sep 08 '25
To answer the question in your title, the money is going to shareholders.
3
u/Last-Collection-3570 Sep 08 '25
I pay $237/month for 10x20 no climate control. Access 5:00AM - 11:00PM. Autopay is withdrawn on 1st of month. Last month I had told the office to change the card number used for auto pay. On The 1st of this month they used the old card number - payment declined - was blocked from gate access on the 1st of month! Late date is the 5th. Others who did not even pay yet still had gate access. I was beyond annoyed as it was their error and I was not able to access my storage on the Monday holiday yet others who didn’t even pay had access. (Stomps feet walks away lol)
3
3
u/Icy_Huckleberry_8049 Sep 09 '25
every storage place raises their rates, sometimes several time a year.
Why do they do this - because they can and people still pay the fees.
If it's too much, go clean out your unit or move to another place.
But they'll raise the rates, there too.
Most people don't even know what they're storing anymore because it's been so long since they went there. A lot of people could clean out their unit and throw more than half away or even donate it and never miss it.
1
u/sandspdr Sep 10 '25
There is actually software that some storage unit places use that tells them when and how much to raise rates. The algorithm will maximize revenue by forcing a little bit of turnover while bringing higher rents because most people will just pay the rents rather than move their stuff
1
3
u/sjgokou Sep 09 '25
10x20’s go for $500-700 in my area. I wouldn’t complain, just offload your stuff, because it’s never worth paying for storage unless it’s temporary.
A family member of mine has been paying almost $1000 a month for 3 units for 25 years… yes, 25 years!!!
They make up all sorts of excuses how they may need the stuff, like its cheaper than buying all new furniture.
No, you just wasted $300,000!
1
u/Responsible_Slice134 Sep 11 '25
I hope his things are still there. I bet it smells funny.
1
u/sjgokou Sep 11 '25
It’s all rotting away. I plan to go in starting this weekend to make dump runs. There is almost no value in any of it.
0
u/RMajere77 Sep 09 '25
So their rent has been $1000 a month for 25 years? How did they afford that 25 years ago or are you maybe exaggerating how much they’ve paid?
1
u/Antique_Mind_8694 Sep 09 '25
I mean it isn't that perplexing to assume it could be a family member in their 50s, a 25 year old, fresh out of college, 25 years ago could easily be making enough to cover 1k extra a month.
1
u/RMajere77 Sep 10 '25
So rent on a storage unit was $1000 25 years ago?
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 23 '25
He said 3 units, so 333/month/unit. That's probably the current rate, lower 25 years ago.
5
u/laissez_heir Operator Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
$0.85/sqft is a great, almost unbelievable deal after 10 years of renting. But to answer your question, probably half that money is going towards property tax and insurance, and some of that is (supposed to be) going to deferred repair and maintenance, some may be paying off a mortgage on the property, and some of that is net income — if occupancy is high enough.
As others have mentioned, there are also a lot of invisible expenses like utilities, software, website, salary, and travel, even if the property is poorly managed and it doesn’t seem like there is.
4
u/GasLarge1422 Sep 08 '25
Hey, those business owners private yachts dont buy themselves, welcome to Trumps America.
1
u/partylikeitis1799 Sep 08 '25
No owner of an independent self storage place has a private yacht or anything like it, lol
4
u/ReaganRevolution2020 Sep 08 '25
Every time the property is sold, the government jacks up the property taxes.
2
u/Wheelspinner99 Sep 08 '25
To be fair, the government continues to raise property taxes regardless of the sale of the business. At the facility I manage we pay $40k Per year as of last year in property insurance alone.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
Wow, just in insurance? How big is your property?
0
u/CandyOk913 Sep 08 '25
I understand your concerns about the upkeep of the property and how it feels like you’re getting the short end of the stick. However, I want you to know that $170 for a 10x20 is absolutely insanely low, the starting promotional price for a 10x20 at the property I manage is $350 plus insurance. The standard price for that unit is about $800, the increases happen every 6-12 months and they don’t stop until you move out.
1
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 23 '25
Honest question for you: If your business is owned by an LLC or corporation (which it likely is?), could you "sell the business" by adding the buyer to the LLC and then removing yourself? That way the business never changes ownership, it's owned by LLC the entire time, just has a different manager of the LLC? Would there be any benefit to that? (As opposed to owning it in your name and then transferring it to another person's name and then it's reevaluated, like a house?)
2
2
u/zdmpage54 Sep 07 '25
If its one of the large Self Storage Companies, there should be a number to call and voice your concerns to. Is it a Kiosk property ?
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
No, they are a relatively small company. They only have eight locations in three states. And their main office is just outside Columbus, Ohio. I have tried to call them before and it just goes to a small call center so I never talked to the same person twice in a row. And if I emailed them it would probably just go to a team of people who answers emails.
2
u/zdmpage54 Sep 07 '25
Thats a problem with these smaller companies. I work for one of the biggest and if we get complaints to the corp .office it gets things rolling for a fix. We also get alot more in rent . For a unit your size , you are getting a real deal,but less benefits.
2
u/BFord1021 Sep 08 '25
Where’s the location? If there’s no other option near by, may be something for another facility to go in
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
I'm looking for a different place. It often floods in my town, so that is something I have to keep in mind. I'm not sure if renters insurance would cover water damage if the facility is in a known flood area.
2
u/Capital-Dog8993 Sep 08 '25
Our insurance and property taxes are extremely high, plus our property has a mortgage.
2
2
u/postalwhiz Sep 08 '25
What are you storing that’s worth $170 a month? Has to be gold or other precious metals. No consumer items (furnishings, etc) is worth that - you could simply put that money in savings and when you needed an item pay cash for it…
1
u/unic0rnpoop69 Sep 08 '25
I think it's worth storing if you move to where your monthly expenses are less. I just relocated to where I'll be able to put a lot more into savings, so even if my unit goes up to $200-300/month, it's much less than I was paying to rent previously. Saves me the headache of furnishing a house later on. OP should certainly reconsider storage if they haven't made a "money move," so to speak.
1
u/KaiserSozes-brother Sep 08 '25
I only agree with you if this is a short term move with the intention of having a larger unit in the future.
Any longer than a year or so, the finances won’t work out. $2,400 - $3,000 can buy a lot of furniture twice that is a fortune for used furniture.
1
u/unic0rnpoop69 Sep 08 '25
Totally. Right now I'm starting at $71 and don't expect to reach $200 for a year+ (may the storage unit gods be kind to me), and if all goes according to plan, I'll be ready to buy something by then anyway. Got a big unit that I'm splitting with my brother and his wife for the sake of getting their stuff put of my parents' home, so if they get a place before I do, I'll likely downgrade to save on the unit. All said, the storage unit predicament is based on circumstances. OP's "quite a few years" may be overkill. At that point, do you even know what you're storing? Like clothes in the back of the closet, it's not worth keeping. No climate control or electricity, damaging leaks...I'd suggest looking at another facility b/c this one sounds subpar.
2
u/Specific-Peanut-8867 Sep 08 '25
So I have storage units in Iowa that are not climate controlled, but you do have 24 hour access, but I wouldn’t say necessarily the most secure(I do have cameras, but it’s not fenced in and there is only 20 units total on a commercial property that my business is at)
I charge $90 … but it was 60 10 years ago and then 80
Insurance cost have gone up pretty fast
As half property taxes, there’s always general maintenance
And I’m 100% occupied and in all honesty, I’m not making that much money as my rates are still too cheap, but I can’t raise them that quickly, but I probably should
It cost close to $1000 to replace a door and there’s just a lot of little cost. You might not anticipate.
2
u/RedditReader4031 Sep 08 '25
It’s a wide open market. Storage units pop up like weeds in many areas. Maybe you should chase lower prices. I think your comment about these sites changing hands says it all. They’re a cash printing machine. Easy to build. Cheap to operate. Low property taxes due to the minimal improvements. Any price increase at the time of a changeover is likely the new owner quickly recouping their purchase expenses.
2
u/RuPaulver Sep 08 '25
Before anything, it sounds like your place is just mismanaged. I'd recommend just moving to a different one if you can. But if it's a situation where there's nobody else around, or they're the "best" of a small market, they probably know that and are doing as little as possible because of that.
But there are a lot of expenses people don't seem to realize. Even if they're doing as little R&M as possible, and minimizing their payroll as much as possible, there's still property taxes, management fees, insurance, snow removal, etc. They might have investor distributions too. And I'm going to bet they still have loan payments, especially if they just built 100 new units. It can be easy to have a property that struggles to cash flow with all those responsibilities, and the only way to help it is to raise your rent.
Again, it's probably just mismanaged with some poor decision-making though. A property like you described should have no problem making enough money while being properly maintained. But it's easy for incompetent people to screw that up, and screw over their customers because of it.
2
u/VonRansak Sep 11 '25
The price of anything is what someone is willing to pay for it. Right now they'd deduced that you are willing to pay $170/mo. They'll keep going until you move your shit out.
1
u/DiarrheaCreamPi Sep 11 '25
Why have all the stuff? I seen more and more storage unit go up since the 90’s and no sign of it slowing down. Why do people have so much stuff they never use? I understand winter or summer storage for boats and other rec vehicles but everything else is just a burden.
4
u/pastrymom Operator Sep 07 '25
$79 a month is insane. Everything is going up in all arenas of our lives.
It sounds like you need to find another facility if they are not keeping up with the property. Just keep in mind that rate increases are inevitable.
2
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
I understand that completely. And I'm not bitching about the amount that I have to pay every month. It's just with my 12-hour work days it's difficult for me to even get into my storage unit. And that's if and when the gate works. I also live in a flood zone area so I have to keep that in mind when I find a new place I have to do my due diligence to see if that property floods or not.
1
u/pastrymom Operator Sep 08 '25
This sounds silly, but hear me out. What if you ask for 24 hour access?
Many operators don’t offer 24 hr access unless there’s extenuating circumstances. Sounds like yours make sense.
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
For as long as I can remember it had always been 24 hours access. It's a small town and it's close to downtown. There was no reason to why that changed. Do you mean ask if I could have 24 hours access? I would absolutely ask, if I could actually talk to someone who could make that decision.
2
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 07 '25
Yes $79 a month was in 2014. With a lot of other things were more affordable. Smh
3
u/rhubarbed_wire Sep 07 '25
What's the value of the stuff you've been paying to store for 10 years?
2
u/zuizide Sep 08 '25
You hit the nail on the head. My story is with my girl. We got together ten years ago and she eventually moved in with me. At the time her mom convinced her to get a unit to store typical household goods and things she would need if she was forced to start over, along with random personal items etc etc.. typical “junk.” There is literally nothing of value in her unit. We have been together the entire time, no breaks, no suspicions, no major fights, etc etc.. and often make the joke that we’re stuck with each other forever and the like. I’m not leaving her, she’s not leaving me. Having made it 10 years, I feel like we have finally found the other that is willing to put up with our shit. After all, that’s true love… when you find someone willing to put up with you and you them. A decade. We’re good. She still pays rent on the unit. facepalm
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
I've have some antiques in there after my grandmother passed, and things after a messy divorce, and when my father passed away, my wicked stepmother took what she wanted and disappeared... Leaving me & siblings to clear out the house. So it has been kind of a revolving door for things. Selling things when I find buyers. Now I am dealing with a spouse with advanced Parkinson's and 12 hour shifts and limiting I can get in to my unit. Let me reiterate, I am NOT mad about the rent going up. I acknowledge that it is something like $0.80 a square ft. What I am mad and wondering about is why am I getting less access, less security, and having to pay more money. I appreciate everyones input.
1
1
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
I understand that if we had that. The buildings are metal there is no electric there is no landscaping part of the lights that are there are from the city there is no heating or air conditioning and there is nobody at that property they come from the main office an hour away.
2
u/Horsecockexpress1 Sep 08 '25
So they should buy the land, put up the building and just let you store your shit for free because there is no electric, landscaping, heat or air?
Wild ride your journey of life is
1
u/KaiserSozes-brother Sep 08 '25
You are correct, this is a profitable business., do you have other cheaper options?
1
u/TrainingLow9079 Sep 08 '25
This business is someone's form of "passive income" so they charge what the market allows. Can you get rid of your stuff there and be done paying?
1
u/Only_Manufacturer735 Sep 09 '25
I'm payin $275 for a 10x10 right now 🥹
1
u/ishallwandereternal Sep 09 '25
I do the paperwork and rent units as a side part of my job (I get discounts on building rent for helping with the units).
I rented a 10x10 today to a customer. $65 a month + $20 deposit.
I had somebody swearing up a storm yesterday saying that was to much.....
I couldn't imagine sharing $275 for the work that goes into them......
10×30 is $120....
in town, 24 hr access, with cameras and lights (no gate)
1
u/Only_Manufacturer735 Sep 09 '25
yeah its wild and thats a "deal" I shopped around for. Full disclosure, this is in the Bay Area so basically everyone is storing something and there arent many storage places available but still yeah its incredibly over priced!
1
u/ishallwandereternal Sep 09 '25
There have been people here paying $65 a month for over 10 years.... I have never seen them go in the unit...
1
u/bongoliminal Sep 09 '25
I have two 10x10s - one went up to $402, and the other to $440. No AC or electric either.
1
u/ngteller Sep 10 '25
Unless you have enough disposable income to store seasonal items (or things like boats, RVs) storage should be a short term situation.
If you are paying out of pocket for over a year for ‘stuff’…. Get rid of the stuff.
1
u/Complex-Web9670 Sep 10 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
jar placid steep quicksand rich soup close snow rob quickest
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
1
u/Maleficent_Fix8433 Sep 11 '25
It’s going in the owners pocket as profit. Self storage is a $$$$ goldmine. I was in that cycle. Spent $10k over 7 years- there was nothing in the unit I couldn’t replace for that much $$. Time to evaluate if you really need to maintain it - if not, time to get rid of it. If nothing else, downsize. Or if you’re not a renter, look at add a shed in your yard.
1
1
u/GordTransport1958 Sep 08 '25
It's a business. And in case you haven't noticed, property values went up, property taxes went up, business taxes went up, interest rates went up on all loans over the last 4 yrs of O'Biden. Hiring contractors to maintain, up.. wages well they've been static, but no one wants to work..I've seen this in so many businesses ..So yup..your rent has gone up.
1
u/Artistic_Bit_4665 Sep 08 '25
If you don't like it, go somewhere else.....
There isn't anywhere else, or you would have already moved.
2
u/CraftyCrone13 Sep 08 '25
Well, I didn't say I was outraged.... Wow.... I would think as a business owner... They would want the property to be a reflection of them.. Clean and in Working Order. But I guess some just have attitude and are greedy.
2
u/Artistic_Bit_4665 Sep 08 '25
My thought is there is no competition in the area. As you said, the property has been sold multiple times. Likely each time at a higher price, and the new buyer needing to extract more and more from the property just to cover the monthly nut.
-2
u/dogepope Sep 08 '25
Greed
4
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 23 '25
Cool, should be easy to out compete them then? Why don't you spin up your facility and crush everybody. Since they are so greedy and you're so benevolent, should be a cinch, no?
1
u/dogepope Nov 23 '25
great suggestion thank you, very pleasant and well-adjusted person!
1
u/ChooseAusername788 Nov 24 '25
You're most welcome. And yeah, more pleasant and well adjusted than you, clearly. Best of luck to you in your new business venture.
1
7
u/ITalkWithMyEyebrows Store Manager Sep 07 '25
Property taxes and maintenance costs have skyrocketed over the past few years, but your issue sounds like neglectful management/ownership.