Storage Units

DanyoGusto

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Long story short, a buddy and I are looking to rent a storage/work space for works in progress, this decluttering our homes besides our personal/test cabs. Any suggestion on what to look for in storage spaces?
 
Long story short, a buddy and I are looking to rent a storage/work space for works in progress, this decluttering our homes besides our personal/test cabs. Any suggestion on what to look for in storage spaces?

A.written agreement so both parties know what is expected of them. This includes if someone fails to pay rent.
 
Too Bad your not near Bedford Va since ive got a bunch of space for rent, whats your budget for space?
 
My advice, don't do it.

I absolutely second this. Even the "1st month free" units require insurance costs up front. You'll go in saying that you are only going to have it for a limited time like everyone does, but that is never the case and they quickly become more expensive than the stuff you have in there. Toss in having to deal with a friend on this and it sounds like a bad idea. I had a storage unit before for my games and projects and honestly it would have been better for me to just sell everything and buy whatever I wanted back when I had the space instead of using a storage unit.
 
Look at what units cost in the Milwaukee area. Consider the price for a year. Compare that to the value of what you'll be storing. Having a storage unit is dangerous - having a place to stick lots of junk leads you to accumulate lots of junk.

Things to think about:
Do you want a location close to your house for convenience, or are you willing to go an hour away to a small town to save money?
What size unit do you need?
Do you need a climate controlled unit? ($$$)
Indoor? Ground level? Elevator? Drive through access? Drive-up access? Hours of access?
Do they require that you purchase their insurance?
Secure access? Security? Cameras? Reputation?
If you forget to pay the rental fee, how long before they auction off all your stuff?
 
My storage unit experiences:

In April of 2014, I started preparing for my fiance to move in with me. This required getting a lot of stuff (games and other things) out of my house "temporarily". I didn't want to spend a lot of time driving to-and-from a distant storage unit, so I identified several possibilities within 5 miles of my house. I then watched the rental prices daily on their web sites. As availability changes, the rental prices and special deals change on a daily basis.

When a good price and good deal popped up on a unit, I drove right over, looked at it, and rented it on the spot.
I rented a non-climate-controlled 10x20 foot unit with direct drive-up outdoor access. That cost me $122 per month. They did not require additional insurance. I checked with my insurance agent; he told me that my homeowners policy would cover stored items for a short term (up to a year).

It took a while, but I filled up that big unit with games, other hobby stuff and household items. I even ended up acquiring new games because I could just stick them right in the storage unit...

A few months after we moved to a larger house, I finally cleared out that storage unit in November of 2015. That's about $2,400 in rental fees!

In May of 2015, we were getting our townhouse ready to go on the market. That meant getting a lot more things out of the house. I had to rent a 10x15 foot indoor climate-controlled unit for $169 per month (no additional insurance required). Fortunately, the house sale and purchase went quickly, and I only had to pay rent on that unit for three months.

Now, a friend of mine, facing a divorce and house sale, rented a storage unit in a small town well outside the metro area for some of his games and other items. That was about $65 per month for a 10x20 foot unit. I ended up tucking a few of my project games in there too over time.
It's a very long story, but he ended up renting that storage unit for about 9 YEARS. That's about $7,000 in rental fees. The total value of all the contents wasn't that much.

My post on that storage unit cleanout:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=370928

Recently, I've been re-organizing our garage with the goal of getting both vehicles in there for the winter. To make that happen, I have to move some project games from the garage down to open spots in the game room. My wife said, "Well, instead of doing that, you could rent a storage unit to move them into for the winter."

No. Uh-huh. Nope. Don't want another storage unit. (A 10x10 foot near my current house would cost $85 per month.)
 
Storage units lead to no good ... I know ...

Nuh-Uh-Sign.jpg
 
I rent two storage spots.. what you wanna look for is...

Somewhere that has a sound roof with no leaks.
Somewhere with surveillance..
See if they jack the price in the winter for heat and electricity.
Your gonna want lights in the storage .
Make sure you get everything in writing.
Make sure you get receipts.
What hours you can access your stuff ..


I pay 225 for one , and 85 for the other.
Mine includes electricity , heat and internet.
I have access to mine 24/7 and have cameras in the halls and on my doors.
 
Another option if you have the space is to buy one of the 20 or 40 foot storage containers )sea containers, etc.). The cost is less than a years worth of a storage unit. I had a 20 foot one dropped next to my garage and ran electricity to it to. I store my projects it in and when I am ready I move them to the garage to work on.

Work great until you fill it with projects and need more space. LOL
 
My advice, don't do it.

Yah I would second that... really ask yourself why you want to do this and what you realistically think the end result will be.

You dont want to end up just hoarding things and paying a bunch of money to storage for games just to sit there forever.

Ive seen other people with a storage space full of games they will get to "later" and later ends up being never. Just a waste of money and its hard to sell off a bunch of stuff at once if you want to get out.

I put a bunch of games in storage and wasted I dont know how much money.. just ended up selling and trading everything in the end.
 
I bought a 4 player Konami cab from a guy's storage unit in MKE (I'm in MKE).

He had a tron next to it and the artwork was de-laminating. He was complaining about how bad the humidity was in the storage unit. His was inside a building and up an elevator.

In the season changing nature of MKE and its humidity, don't do it.
 
My storage unit experiences:

In April of 2014, I started preparing for my fiance to move in with me. This required getting a lot of stuff (games and other things) out of my house "temporarily". I didn't want to spend a lot of time driving to-and-from a distant storage unit, so I identified several possibilities within 5 miles of my house. I then watched the rental prices daily on their web sites. As availability changes, the rental prices and special deals change on a daily basis.

When a good price and good deal popped up on a unit, I drove right over, looked at it, and rented it on the spot.

I rented a non-climate-controlled 10x20 foot unit with direct drive-up outdoor access. That cost me $122 per month. They did not require additional insurance. I checked with my insurance agent; he told me that my homeowners policy would cover stored items for a short term (up to a year).

It took a while, but I filled up that big unit with games, other hobby stuff and household items. I even ended up acquiring new games because I could just stick them right in the storage unit...

A few months after we moved to a larger house, I finally cleared out that storage unit in November of 2015. That's about $2,400 in rental fees!

In May of 2015, we were getting our townhouse ready to go on the market. That meant getting a lot more things out of the house. I had to rent a 10x15 foot indoor climate-controlled unit for $169 per month (no additional insurance required). Fortunately, the house sale and purchase went quickly, and I only had to pay rent on that unit for three months.

Now, a friend of mine, facing a divorce and house sale, rented a storage unit in a small town well outside the metro area for some of his games and other items. That was about $65 per month for a 10x20 foot unit. I ended up tucking a few of my project games in there too over time.

It's a very long story, but he ended up renting that storage unit for about 9 YEARS. That's about $7,000 in rental fees. The total value of all the contents wasn't that much.

My post on that storage unit cleanout:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=370928

Recently, I've been re-organizing our garage with the goal of getting both vehicles in there for the winter. To make that happen, I have to move some project games from the garage down to open spots in the game room. My wife said, "Well, instead of doing that, you could rent a storage unit to move them into for the winter."

No. Uh-huh. Nope. Don't want another storage unit. (A 10x10 foot near my current house would cost $85 per month.)

--------------------------------------

so yeah. i've have a storage unit since 04/2015...

company: public storage (nationwide chain)
size: 10x15 (150sq/ft)

got rid of their cheap $10 lock which can be picked under 15-30 seconds.
i invested $50 in a German-engineered ABUS Diskus 20/70 lock.
Good luck picking that. Or hacksawing it. Only a plasma cutter will work.

starting price was $138/mo... (all costs include insurance)
+$14/mo increase on 09/2015: $152/mo now...
+$15/mo increase on 09/2016: $167/mo now...
+$18/mo increase on 09/2017: $185/mo now...

total amount wasted to-date: $4,987.00 (31 months of storage)

alternatives: none. no friend is going to store 30 games. i doubt a warehouse is
cheaper or more secure. my condo does NOT fit all these. none are for sale.

what to do? what to do? what to do? what to do? what to do? what to do?
 
Last edited:
Don't do it unless its an absolute last resort.

Here in Santa Fe, NM storage is expensive. a 10 x 20 was $230/mo. I ended up renting a 45 foot cargo container for $140/mo. It about 400 sq/ft. I do have 10 acres of land so placing it somewhere was not an issue.

IT currently holds all my access parts inventory (I sell parts for a living).
 
Don't do it unless its an absolute last resort.

Here in Santa Fe, NM storage is expensive. a 10 x 20 was $230/mo. I ended up renting a 45 foot cargo container for $140/mo. It about 400 sq/ft. I do have 10 acres of land so placing it somewhere was not an issue.

IT currently holds all my access parts inventory (I sell parts for a living).

yeah for me it was a last resort. i forgot to mention i live in a condo with 100-200sq/ft
tops for my backyard, so yeah zero storage options here. and my basement is full.
 
Don't do it unless its an absolute last resort.

Here in Santa Fe, NM storage is expensive. a 10 x 20 was $230/mo. I ended up renting a 45 foot cargo container for $140/mo. It about 400 sq/ft. I do have 10 acres of land so placing it somewhere was not an issue.

IT currently holds all my access parts inventory (I sell parts for a living).

You should buy the containers. Should be $1k -$3k for it. Maybe $300-$500 to get it dropped off. When buying one, you want a high cube, and possibly insulated.

But before you buy, make sure you can get one. Some cities have restrictions limiting size without getting a permit.
 
Has bought a house once upon a time.

Just to use the garage space. 5 year plan..

The renters paid for most of the mortgage.

Sold it after 5 years. While I didn't make a whole lot of money. The storage cost didn't cost me a lot.

How thing are now, I might look for an Airbnb property that I can add an arcade setup in it.
Or maybe I will contact other Airbnb owners and offer up arcade machines if they can pay for restoration costs afterwards.

Laughs
 
--------------------------------------

so yeah. i've have a storage unit since 04/2015...

company: public storage (nationwide chain)
size: 10x15 (150sq/ft)

got rid of their cheap $10 lock which can be picked under 15-30 seconds.
i invested $50 in a German-engineered ABUS Diskus 20/70 lock.
Good luck picking that. Or hacksawing it. Only a plasma cutter will work.

starting price was $138/mo... (all costs include insurance)
+$14/mo increase on 09/2015: $152/mo now...
+$15/mo increase on 09/2016: $167/mo now...
+$18/mo increase on 09/2017: $185/mo now...

total amount wasted to-date: $4,987.00 (31 months of storage)

alternatives: none. no friend is going to store 30 games. i doubt a warehouse is
cheaper or more secure. my condo does NOT fit all these. none are for sale.

what to do? what to do? what to do? what to do? what to do? what to do?

Don't have 30 games you probably never see/play? Just sell it all. Are you planning to move into a house or some place with tons of land that you could build a massive arcade room? If not... sell. No point in wasting thousands of dollars... I'm sure you could probably have bought quite a few of those games back for the $5k you've thrown away.

Sell them all. Put the money into bitcoin... wait a couple years and then cash out and get a bigger place and buy back the games you really want.
 
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