Now that the holidays are officially over, where do you store all the glittering trinkets, inflatable snowmen, and artificial trees? If your attic is already overfull, and your garage doesn’t have a square foot to spare, it may be time to think about storing your holiday decorations—and anything else that’s cluttering up your house—somewhere else. Yes, you can use one of those commercial self-storage facilities, but there’s another option for your storage solutions. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider using a storage host instead.
A storage host is not a commercial storage facility. It is privately owned property maintained by a regular person, often a neighbor or someone nearby in your town, who has extra space in their home to rent to others who need it. The space could be in the form of a garage, shed, basement, driveway, attic, or even a closet. They have the room to store things and you need the room to store things. Supply meet demand. A match made in heaven.
1- It’s Cheaper
Large commercial or “self-storage” facilities have a lot of overhead in the name of electricity, heat, staff, security, and property taxes. Where do you think they get their money from? Renters. A storage unit from one of these places can cost $300 a month or more to rent. However, choosing to rent with a storage host can cut that cost by half or more.
2- Strengthen the Community
Instead of giving your money to a large corporation with headquarters in another city or possibly another state, why not help out a neighbor who is looking to raise money to make ends meet? By renting with a storage host, you will be in direct contact with the person you are renting your space from. Getting back to doing business the way we used to, face to face, is what builds relationships and helps to make our communities strong. Sounds better than lining someone’s pockets on the other side of the country, doesn’t it?
3- Good for the Environment
Finding new ways to reuse space is an environmentally responsible way to conduct business. Commercial storage facilities are unattractive sprawling buildings on clear-cut land. There’s no need to waste valuable resources constructing these facilities when there’s plenty of space—at a cheaper cost to the renter—with storage hosts.
Finding new ways to reuse space is an environmentally responsible way to conduct business.
4- No Long-Term Contracts
Most commercial storage facilities require a rental agreement for six months to a year minimum. What if you only need the space for a couple of months or even just a couple of weeks? Your storage host can help you with that. When you search through the Hopperstock database, simply pick which weeks you need for storage. Whether you’re just looking to store your boat through the winter, or you need the extra space for a longer amount of time, there’s a storage unit for you.
5- More Security
When you drive by a commercial storage facility, you’re going to see gates, locks, security systems, cameras, and possibly a paid security guard. And for good reason: These places are often unoccupied, sprawling buildings, with lots of items to safeguard and a lot of opportunities for theft. Another reason storage hosts are becoming so popular is that you can store your valuables with people who are home and will treat your things with as much care as they treat their own belongings. But if extra security is of importance to you, most storage hosts offer amenities like lock up garages for rent, floodlights, and even alarm systems in some cases– but at a fraction of the cost of a commercial storage facility.
If these 5 reasons to use a storage host rather than a commercial storage facility sound good to you (and why wouldn’t they?), check out the Hopperstock renter’s data page to find a storage host near you.