About a dozen items valued at an estimated $23,000 were recently taken from a self-storage unit at a Public Storage in Charlotte, N.C. The tenant told police someone used a tool to pry open the locked door.
The items stolen include three flat-screen TVs, iPad, leather laptop bag and laptop, jewelry, computer software, and a digital camera.
New London Self Storage in Connecticut is donating a unit to an after-school program designed to keep kids off the streets.
The facility is offering a large storage space free of charge to Heavy Hitters USA, a non-profit organization that provides after-school and early-evening wrestling, boxing and conditioning programs for kids and young adults from New London and surrounding towns.
Heavy Hitters plans to store its mobile boxing ring, mats and other gear in the unit. Len Goldstein, owner of New London Self Storage, said the program is a worthy cause. We saw these kids walk in off the streets, some of them following their older siblings inside. If they didn't have this program, these kids would have sought out drugs, alcohol or worse.
Investigators found an estimated $2 million to $5 million in crystal methamphetamine in a self-storage unit in San Antonio.
Two men were arrested Tuesday and now face federal drug charges after a joint investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. About 28 pounds of crystal meth was found in unit at Mini Storage.
The San Antonio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force began investigating Manuel de Jesus Sanchez and Rudolfo Solis nearly a year ago. Solis was captured on video entering the storage unit where the drugs were discovered.
As we move into the second quarter of 2011, self-storage operators should assess their facilities progress to this point, especially those managed by a professional management company. But before meeting with your third-party provider, identify your own expectations.
Ask yourself: What constitutes a successful year for your facility? Is it a 5 percent increase in revenue, a 3 percent decrease in expenses, or a 5 percent increase in net operating income (NOI)? Are you swinging for the fences expecting double-digit increases and decreases across the board? Are you near your internal targets? Are your customers satisfied? Are facility managers content and properly trained? Is the facilitys curb appeal at an acceptable level?
Beyond these questions, hows your management company handling the intangibles? Are you happy with the level of communication? Does the company provide you with the items it claimed it would in a timely manner? Do you enjoy speaking with your representative? All of these things should be factored into the evaluation of your management company.
Assessing Your Operation
The basics of evaluating a third-party management company are simple and straightforward. Evaluating intangibles is not always simple and relies on the judgment of the self-storage owner or investor. The main question is always: Is your investment better off since you hired a management company, or has facility performance been lackluster?
Now, taking into account that weve just experienced one of the worst recessions in history, along with crippling job losses and a devastated real estate market, is your investment better off than last year? In general, your management company should be performing in the following six categories.
Financial targets. These are extremely easy to review. Are your facilitys revenue, expense and NOI numbers in line with your expectations? Does its profit and loss report have any resemblance to this years forecasts? Did your management company give you any projections for 2011? If not, why? You cannot hold someone accountable for performance if theres no benchmark on which to base it.
Marketing. Is your management company marketing your facility effectively? Do you have a successful Internet campaign complete with a website optimized for search engines? Are you making strategic alliances with businesses in the area? Do you have a strong referral program? Are you tracking your results to allocate funds for the most effective campaigns?
Training and manager evaluations. Are your facility managers content and well-trained? Does your management company have an effective training program? Are the lines of communication open between the management company and your managers?
Maintenance and curb appeal. Is your facilitys condition and appearance up to your standards? Have projects been contracted or completed? Did they come in at the projected cost?
Onsite visits and groundwork. Does your management company visit your facility? I recently consulted with a facility manager who had not seen or spoken to his district manager in three months. The only communication in this situation was through text messaging. This is not an effective way to manage a self-storage facility.
Technology. Does your management company understand todays technology? There are so many effective and efficient ways to manage self-storage operations online that its imperative your management company be familiar with the latest innovations.
Evaluating the Intangibles
Evaluating your management company through performance metrics is straightforward. Assessing intangibles is not. Consider the following:
Compatibility. Do you like working with your management company? Regardless of performance, if you cant stand the people you work with, the relationship will deteriorate quickly.
Communication. Does your management company return your calls and e-mails in a timely manner, if at all? Does it meet your technical needs? Would you like items e-mailed to you instead of faxed or mailed? Do you have access to online reporting?
Reporting. Does your management company provide you with the necessary reporting on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?
Investments and exit strategies. Can your management company help you with additional investments or an exit strategy from your current facility? As you become a seasoned self-storage investor, you may want to discuss buying an additional facility, selling your existing facility, or developing a new one. Can your management company help you with that process?
Open Lines of Communication
As an owner or investor, if you need something or feel something is missing in regard to the management of your facility, just ask. All management companies look forward to speaking with their customers, and most wish to do so more often. A management companys job is to serve the operational needs of the facility. As with any partnership, you must have clear expectations. Are yours in line with your market?
Hiring a third-party management company will not change certain things about your area. A management company cannot change the fact that your local municipality approved eight new self-storage facilities within a 3-mile radius of your site. It cannot change that a developer paid Manhattan, N.Y., real estate prices when developing a facility in Manhattan, Kan. And it cannot change the fact that an owner or investor overpaid for a facility.
With that said, a management company can help you with any of these situations by increasing NOI to a level that most individual investors couldnt accomplish on their own. Management companies are experts in streamlining operations, opening new revenue streams, and decreasing expenses. Within the first month of the partnership, most management companies can identify ways to increase revenue and decrease costs at any facility.
If youre looking for a management company, take the time to do your homework and interview a number of companies. This could lead you to the investment partnership of a lifetime.
Matthew Van Horn is vice president of Cutting Edge Self-Storage Management, a full-service management company specializing in management, feasibility studies, consulting and joint ventures within the self-storage industry. He is well-known for finding hidden profit centers in self-storage operations. For a complimentary copy of Hidden Profit Discovery Session, send an e-mail to mvanhorn@cuttingedgestorage.com. For more information, call 866.970.EDGE or visit www.cuttingedgeselfstorage.com. Follow the company on Twitter at Cuttingedgemgt, and on Facebook at Cutting Edge Self-Storage Management.
Storage.co.uk, an advice website for people interested in renting self-storage space in the United Kingdom, conducted a survey in early January of U.K. self-storage facilities, attempting to gain insight to the outlook for 2011. The survey results were published on the website last week, indicating optimism for self-storage in the year ahead.
According to Storage.co.uk, virtually every self storage centre in the country was invited to take part in the e-mail survey, though the site does not clarify how many facilities that includes or how many companies responded. The survey asked operators four questions:
More than two-thirds of respondents (69 percent) said they are not planning to increase rental rates in 2011, with many saying they feel their current rates are reasonable and reflect the average for their local market. Several firms pointed out that rates will go up without management intervention because of passing on the higher rate of VAT (value added tax).
On average, respondents reported being 74 percent occupied in their self-storage facilities. Storage.co.uk believes this number agreeably high in light of the still sluggish economy and the timing of the survey; January is a seasonal low point for U.K. storage operators.
Ninety percent of the self-storage operators polled said they believe 2011 will be a better year for their business than 2010. Though several of the respondents are new players to the U.K. self-storage industry and have every reason to expect increasing performance as their facilities lease up, Storage.co.uk said this optimism on behalf of established companies has everything to do with the recession.
Respondents indicated that an average of 49 percent of their rental inquiries come through the Internet, though some indicated a percentage as high as 90 percent or more. A minority said they get almost no online inquiries.
Storage.co.uk provides a self-storage finder, a how-to guide, videos and blogs covering all aspects of renting storage space.
A self-storage developer in OFallon, Ill., continues to battle with the city council over a proposed self-storage facility in an industrial area along a major highway.
Barry Hayden, who hopes to build a vinyl-sided self-storage center among metal buildings in an industrial area, has met with the citys planning committee four times.
At a city community development meeting in January, it was suggested the facility be structured from concrete block or brick. Hayden said it would be too expensive to be cost-effective. He did, however, agree to use brick on the ends of the building, leaving the front and sides in vinyl. The city council rejected the idea and the plans were sent back to the committee. There is nothing in the OFallon ordinances that require masonry buildings in industrial zones.
The committee insists its not just about aesthetics, but also longevity. Hayden had originally proposed metal siding for the facility. After some discussion, the committee will ask the city council to consider the same proposal: brick ends with a vinyl side and front. The council will consider the plans on Feb. 7.
A self-storage operator is helping protect more than 2,000 acres of agriculture land in Hawaii from being developed.
Ed Olson, chairman of A-American Storage Management Co. Inc., has entered into a voluntary conservation easement agreement with the newly formed Hawaiian Islands Land Trust to protect 1,276 acres of land on the slopes of Oahu's Waianae mountains. The agreement also covers 907 acres in the Big Island's Kau district.
No development, including homes, commercial, roads or power lines will be permitted. Most of the acreage is currently used by three small ranchers, who will continue to lease the land.
Olson serves on the Hawaiian Islands Program Advisory Board for The Trust for Public Land, a national, nonprofit land-conservation organization. Hes also a partner in O.K. Farms LLC on the island of Hawai'i. The farm produces coffee, macadamia nuts, honey, tropical fruits, avocados, citrus, and hearts of palm.
The non-profit Hawaiian Islands Land Trust oversees stewardship and protection of over 17,400 acres across the state.
Self-storage owners and managers interested in learning more about their rights and responsibilities under numerous federal employment laws can now consult several interactive, online advisors developed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
The elaws (Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses) Advisors address some of the nations most widely applicable federal employment laws, including pay and overtime, health benefits, disability discrimination, workplace safety, union elections, re-employment rights for uniformed service members, youth employment, federal contractor requirements and more.
Each elaws Advisor mimics the interaction someone might have with an employment-law expert by asking specific questions and providing tailored information based on individual situations and circumstances. Depending on the topic, questions might pertain to industry, staff size and how long an employee has worked for his employer. All questions offer pre-set answers in which to choose, and no information provided is recorded or stored in any system.
Workers are not asked to provide the name of their employer; however, information about filing complaints with the DOL or other relevant agency is provided, if appropriate.
The elaws Advisors, found at www.dol.gov/elaws, are one of a number of tools developed to further DOL's dedication to provide clear, accurate and accessible information and protect the wages, health benefits, retirement security, safety and health of America's workforce.
PODS (Portable On Demand Storage) Enterprises Inc. was recently nominated as one of the organizing industrys best service providers by the National Association of Professional Organizers. The company was a finalist in NAPOs 2011 Los Angeles Organizing Awards, which recognizes professional organizers who set the standard for home and business productivity as well as products and services that help consumers and businesses keep organized.
Now in their sixth year, the awards honor 24 individuals or companies in categories such as best office organizing product, most helpful organizing technology, and best time management expert. PODS was one of six finalists in the newly added best services provider to the organizing industry category.
Award winners were announced at an industry-wide event on Jan. 29. A red carpet reception, gala industry exchange, dinner and awards ceremony was held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City. The presenting sponsor was OfficeMax. The ultimate winner in PODS category was junk-removal company 1-800-Got-Junk?
Based in Clearwater, Fla., and founded in 1998, PODS provides moving and storage services to a population of more than 245 million consumers and businesses in 48 U.S. states as well as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. To date, the PODS network has completed more than 300,000 long-distance relocations, exceeded 1.6 million deliveries and has nearly 141,000 PODS containers in service.
NAPO is a nonprofit professional association whose members include organizing consultants, speakers, trainers, authors, and manufacturers of organizing products.
Some self-storage facilities offer $1 specials or a free month of rent. Others offer free use of move-in trucks. Some get creative and pitch a 50 percent discount for the first two months to protect themselves from tenants who want a free month but will stop paying after they get it. Whatever the method, self-storage operators clamor for fresh ways to entice new tenants while still protecting their interests.
Their fervor is evident in a recent Self-Storage Talk thread called "$1 Special vs. 1st Month Free vs. 50% off 2 months vs. Free Truck," which has dozens of responses only a couple of days after it started. Member annek began the discussion to gauge which promotion methods facilities are using, especially in a hyper-competitive market. Here are a couple of notable posts, including one that chastises specials in general for being harmful to the industry:
From member mrodrigues: "We are in an area where price is king. We have found we get a lot of rentals solely on our specials being better than those around us. We are an older facility that is not nearly in as good condition as the newer ones around us. Our combination of best price and superior customer service is what drives our business ... The more we are willing to do to help our client's pocketbooks, the longer we keep them and the more referrals they bring in."
From member StorLyon: "This industry is frankly stupid to have ever introduced the temporary move-in special price. Like amazingly stupid. Dumber than a box of rocks. It hurts us, it hurts long-term customers, it blinds our market analysis, and it only helps the kind of customer we don't really want. It makes the pricing strategy unfair, as the overall cost per month is radically lower the shorter a customer's stay. The only reason we're doing it is because everybody's doing it and we can't be the only ones who don't offer 'specials.'"
If you have a reaction to this or a story about how specials have or haven't worked at your facility, jump in on the thread and give your take. Only registered members can post, but registration is free and can be done at www.selfstoragetalk.com/register.php.
Live and growing since 2008, Self-Storage Talk is the official forum of Inside Self-Storage, a dynamic services company that provides publications, events and educational resources for the self-storage industry. SST has approximately 3,980 members, 23 different topical forums, 3,985 discussion threads and 34,875 posts.
