How many use a storage facility?

[TerryH]

Congratulations! I wish you well with your business. Please post up more updates as construction progresses as I, for one, am very interested.

Thanks! Will do. They're just about done with the grade work now. We are in the midst of a major drought here. There hauling thousands of gallons of water every day which is not helping the schedule. Concentrating on the front parking lot and slabs for the office and garage next week. The office building is done and just waiting on the slab. Garage kit is done and will be up as soon as that slab is ready. Fence contractor is 3 weeks out. It'll take about a month to do the fence. 2100 feet of 6' privacy. Metal posts and cedar pickets. Electric company is scheduled to set the pole and get power on the property at the end of the month. I'm still in shock on the price for that. Over $11k to set one pole and add 200 amp service. Obviously no plan B so just write the check and move on.

Office is in keeping with the silo theme. Basically a 12x20 tiny house. Wired, spray foamed with heat and A/C right from the manufacturer. Just some sheetrock and interior paint needed once it's on the property.

 

[jjbbrewer]

Although painful, I'm not surprised at the price of the power. Where I live, if you wanted a water tap from the city, it would be about 10 times that cost.
Great idea on the office. I've seen buildings similar to that at Home Depot and always wondered how well they'd work. Nice!

 

[TerryH]

Although painful, I'm not surprised at the price of the power. Where I live, if you wanted a water tap from the city, it would be about 10 times that cost.
Great idea on the office. I've seen buildings similar to that at Home Depot and always wondered how well they'd work. Nice!

Thanks! There is a local company that builds these buildings. I have a couple others already. They build a really nice building and way cheaper than stick building on side. The office including delivery was $14k. My issue with the price of the electrical service was they originally told me $4500 and it turned out to be nearly $12k. No one at the electric cooperative will even discuss why.

 

[Tony_in_AZ]

We have our 5th whl in a large storage place , covered, with electric, dump station on site.

Electric: I found the timer only provides power 3 times a week for near 2 hrs. When I visit the rv, I turn the power on to my section via the timer. The place is packed with large RV units and some junk I can not believe ppl pay storage fees on. Many of them have solar panels on the ground to maintain battery

Wash bays were changed to storage bays a few months back. No reason given. We were also notified that NO water was provided. Yet the water hoses are still there. ALso NO water is to be added during tank dumps, like black tank flushing.

I miss the wash bays. The air hoses have never worked there.

In the last 6 months the place removed one whole outer wall section of single space parking , about 500 feet long.. It is now all storage container units 10x20, 10x25 and looks full with customers.

So , yeah , we like the place. Its 14 miles from my winter home park model we own. This is a storage place near Luke Air Force Base if you have ever heard of Luke.

Its $245.00 a month for our 2 units: the covered RV storage with power (?) and we store my dual axle 24 foot car trailer in open uncovered storage there too.

We also have a 10x20 storage unit, ground entry, (1000 feet from us) full of my tools , equip and misc crap from when we downsized.. That is $215.00 a month. That storage place is near full. RV storage too

Seems to be good money in the storage business, at least in central AZ.

In 2024 , we are going to buy a larger place to live and consolidate everything again.

EDIT: The 10x20 storage place charges us a fee for insurance. No option, you pay it. It was just doubled in price and coverage. 5k coverage at $18.00 a month. Not happy about that.

An update: Rent was raised again at each storage facility.. The storage locker place sold out to a large Corp in july 2024... 2nd Notice I received from the the new Corp owner was a rent increase and their required insurance cost was near doubled.. SO , we searched for a house. Found one. Bought it in august. Sold the park model unit in Sun CIty AZ, which by the way the lot rent was increased too..

Rolled those 4 different rent moneys in the house purchase. Just over 1/3 acre of land, so the 5th wheel is parked with us now.

Rental storage business in the central AZ still seems strong , new places are still being built around Luke Air Force base when we moved out in late august

 

[TerryH]

An update: Rent was raised again at each storage facility.. The storage locker place sold out to a large Corp in july 2024... 2nd Notice I received from the the new Corp owner was a rent increase and their required insurance cost was near doubled.. SO , we searched for a house. Found one. Bought it in august. Sold the park model unit in Sun CIty AZ, which by the way the lot rent was increased too..

Rolled those 4 different rent moneys in the house purchase. Just over 1/3 acre of land, so the 5th wheel is parked with us now.

Rental storage business in the central AZ still seems strong , new places are still being built around Luke Air Force base when we moved out in late august

Congrats on the house! The true premium deal is to have everything at home. Here's our home setup.

 

[TerryH]

Well, I've done a terrible job of keeping up to date on this thread. Construction is going well albeit slower than I'd like. Grading and gravel is pretty much done. They'll be back once the fence and landscaping is done to do the final gravel work and to expand the entrance and finish the front parking lot. We have power on the property and the lighting is up. Electrical is done in the office and shop building. Signage, the flag and associated lighting on the silo also done. The fence is ongoing. It's a big project. Almost half a mile of privacy fence. Security camera install begins later this week.

I've officially given up on all proposed finish dates. It'll be done when it's done.

Here's some pics since I posted last.

That's a lot of gravel.



Getting power on the property was an adventure. Took 2 days and a core drill to penetrate the solid rock far enough to set the pole.



We eventually got power and lights!



Glad it wasn't me in this lift installing the sign and the flag.







The office and shop on their respective concrete slabs.





And pretty much where we are now on the massive fence project.

 

[TerryH]

Continuing to go forward even though it feels painfully slow. Fence guys finally done less the main gate. 27 trees the county made me buy are in. Basic security and internet up and going.Still mor4e security stuff to go in. Bought the latest in AI cameras and equipment. Pretty incredible stuff. Waiting on better weather to put in the new entrance and driveway and finish the gravel. Still need to finish inside the office. Punch list of stuff to finish up but it's looking more like a storage facility.

 

[UGADawgs]

Cool progress on your site. We pay $300/month in North Florida for covered storage with power hook up and a wash area. No dump area and no bathrooms. Wish it had both of those.

 

[MN-Mark]

My wife and I are in the engineering stage of such a facility. All outdoor spots at least to start. 5 acre facility with the usual stuff, security gate, lights, surveillance system etc... How many of us use a storage facility to house our units when not in use? What do you like or don't like about the facility you use? What would you like to see in such a facility?

Editing 1.23 to add what we have planned.

The facility will be perimeter security fenced with a 20' keypad and bluetooth accessible gate. There is ample parking area around the office to pull off the main road for any size rig so no one will have to deal with the gate code while on the street. Ample lighting and monitored security cameras on the site.

Electricity will be available at our garage inside the main fence to use for an air compressor etc... but not at each individual spot.

Ample room to maneuver is a top priority for us. Smaller spots will be back in's but there will be 50' pull thru's so the larger rigs will never have to back up. Aisles are 40' wide and spots are on a 60° angle for ease of entering and leaving the spots.

Landscaped area with seating and picnic tables so the kids have a place to go hang out while the adults are there taking care of their rigs.

When we stored our old TT in a storage lot, they had a dump station with water for flushing, potable water for filling your tank, and air for topping off your tires if needed. These were all out of the way so you weren’t blocking anyone while using them. That facility also had a propane filling station which we often used. Also, the owner was almost always on site and was very generous with his tools. I was picking up my TT one time and had a flat. He brought a floor jack out to my trailer along with his tools and we changed the tire. I had everything I needed to do the job but it sure was convenient not having to dig it all out.

It sure sounds like you are on the right track. Good Luck!

Mark