As the Manager at In Towne Self Storage, I have often been asked for a “deal” when sharing our facility with potential tenants. I understand the need to be price conscious and am never offended by these inquiries. We offer specials at various times of the year or on specific sized units. We do this because storage is an industry based on, like many other industries, supply and demand. I have recently moved several tenants into our climate-controlled storage facility from neighboring facilities for a reason that has caused me to think, and the purpose of this blog.
Yesterday a gentleman stopped by and indicated he had a few questions about our facility. I offered him a tour and he said, “Ok, but first I want to know how often are you going to raise my rent?” You may be surprised that was his first question, but it didn’t necessarily surprise me. It commonly comes up with potential tenants who have used self storage in the past. It is one of the reasons why our locally owned family business decided upon a “honest-to-goodness” transparent pricing model when we entered the storage industry.
We are aware that some competitors often raise tenant rates multiple times per year (this gentleman had his rates increase 5 times over a 14-month period equaling a 100% increase). Our family of companies have rented commercial and residential property in the Fox Valley region for well over 60 years (BEI Commercial Properties) and treat our self-storage tenants no differently than our commercial and residential tenants – one modest rent increase about once per year. After all, it’s our name on the door, not a “big box”.
So, if you are in the market for a great deal on self-storage, make sure to find out exactly how long that “deal” is going to last!
