A fire at a self-storage facility in Mesa, Ariz., destroyed eight units Wednesday morning and left two firefighters injured.

The first-alarm blaze at Arizona Storage Inns near McKellips Road and Country Club Drive also caused smoke damage to more than 30 units. One firefighter suffered a back; the other had raised vital signs. Both were taken to a local hospital.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Arizona Storage Inns has five locations in Mesa and several more in the surrounding cities.

Affordable Self Storage in Hudson, N.Y., teamed up with local radio stations 98.5 The Cat, Cruisin 93.5, and 1230 WHUC, as well as the Columbia Greene Humane Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to conduct a pet food donation drive. The drive, held Saturday, April 16, was designed to serve pet owners who can't afford to feed their pets and may have to give them up.

Affordable Self Storage participated in the effort as a collection and storage area. The facility was a media sponsor and also assisted on the final day of collections, said Todd Baright, owner. The operator has three Hudson locations and one directly adjacent to a ShopRite supermarket cooperative, which also participated in the event.

Many donors came to the ShopRite, where a radio station truck was parked, went into the store, and purchased pet food along with their regular groceries. They then donated the food on their way out. Other donors simply contributed cash toward the cause, which was advertised on the radio stations.

"We were so humbled and honored to participate in this wonderful cause," Baright said. "In this difficult economy, we were pleased to be able to help some of our less fortunate neighbors to be able to feed their precious pets."

Affordable Self Storage has five locations in upstate New York. Hudson is 33 miles south of Albany and 120 miles north of New York City.

The deadline for speaking proposals is approaching for the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Tacoma, Wash., Oct. 4-6. The expo is seeking qualified experts who can deliver outstanding educational content in the areas of facility management, marketing, development, technology and more.

Potential presenters can submit their seminar proposals online at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com/tacoma/proposal through April 22. The Web page includes guidelines for speakers and a specific list of desired topics. Judging criteria includes but is not limited to significance of the topic to the industry, originality and credentials of the presenter. Presenters and their respective companies will receive additional exposure in connection to the show.

The ISS Expo will feature four comprehensive education tracks, including one designed exclusively for Canadian self-storage developers and operators. Roundtable-discussion opportunities are also available.

Questions about the submission process should be directed to ISS Expo Education Manager Alex Koupal at akoupal@vpico.com. Show details can be found at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.

Houston-based self-storage operator Amazing Spaces recently broke ground on what will be its largest facility to date. The six-story, 150,000-square-foot building in Houstons Medical Center will offer rental spaces in a range of sizes, individual wine-storage vaults with alarms, and three securely monitored elevators. Other amenities will include:

• Individual unit-door alarms
• Climate control
• Covered drive-through area
• Conference room with WiFi and work space
• Color DVR recording system
• Music in all storage-area hallways
• Retail office with a full assortment of moving supplies, boxes and packing materials
• Penske truck leasing

Amazing Spaces operates three locations in the Houston area, and offers franchise opportunities across the United States through Amazing Spaces Franchising LLC. The newest property is scheduled to open in spring 2012.

We are overwhelmed with how much support the community has given us since we opened our first property in 1998, said Kathy Tautenhahn, co-founder. That support has helped our company remain profitable even in a down economy and has enabled us to open this new propertyour most spacious yetin one of Houstons most populated areas.

By Chris Hitler

There are many ways to enhance your self-storage facilitys net operating income (NOI), including raising prices or lowering expenses. However, the recent popularity of reality TV shows such as Storage Wars and Auction Hunters has given self-storage operators a new tool to improve their NOIcapturing lost revenue from non-paying tenants.

Calculating NOI

Historically, the most important outcome of the lien sale was to have the unit emptied so it could be rented to a new customer. Most operators recognize auctions likely wont generate much cash. Fortunately, these reality shows have changed the game for storage operators by creating a wave of treasure-seekers looking for bargains.

In the past, a 10-by-20 unit full of boxes, clothes, furniture and other personal items may have netted $10 to $50 at auction. Today, an operator can expect anywhere from $200 to $1,000 or more for that same unit. Better auctions are not only important because more cash ends up in your pocket, but they also increase your NOI, which is the most critical valuation factor when it comes time to sell your property.

Before exploring how you can tap into this trend and get more buyers to your auctions, lets review the impact of successful lien sales on property valuation. NOI is the basis for roughly 70 percent to 99 percent of a propertys value. Most buyers appraise properties based on a multiple of NOI, and then make some adjustments, such as a deferred-maintenance allowance. Valuation multiples generally range from 10 to 13 times NOI, so every dollar improvement has a $10 to $13 dollar impact on a propertys value.

Lets look at an example. Assume an operator has five to 10 delinquent tenants who shouldve paid $5,000 in rent and other fees. Lets also assume the operator never gets any bidders at his auctions, forcing him to give the stuff away to the local junk guy. The accompanying chart illustrates the valuation impact of failing to realize that rental income.

Even if this propertys value has a relatively low multiple of 10 percent (i.e., high cap rate), the operator is still missing out on $50,000 in value when it comes time to sell. The impact is even higher if the property justifies a lower cap rate.

Get the Word Out

So now that you understand the valuation impact of better lien-sale performance, lets explore concrete steps you can take to have more success at your auctions. Just like any product or service, people will only buyor, in the case of auctions, attendif they know about it. Simply relying on your public notice to reach potential auction buyers is not nearly enough. You have to market these events.

Some operators like to post signs on their local community boards and around their facility. Serious auction buyers are willing to travel great distancesthree or more hoursfor sales. Consequently, they probably wont read the local newspaper or see the signs where you posted your public notice.

Another tactic is to capture e-mail addresses of buyers who attend your auctions, then notify them of your sales. Unfortunately, this approach only markets to current buyers and doesnt help you attract new ones.

One more option is to hire an auctioneer. Good auctioneers have a database of buyers they invite to their auctions. But accessing their network of buyers does come with a price. Auctioneers can charge anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent of the revenue generated.

The most cost-effective tactic is to list your sale on an auction website. There are several quality resources on the Web. Posting your auction can help you increase buyer attendance upward of four times, with bids increasing as high as 10 times.

Tips for Better Auctions

Drawing people to your event isnt the only essential element to a successful auction. Here are a few other tips to ensure increased revenue.

The bigger the sale the better. If possible, run one large auction vs. a few small ones. Buyers are willing to travel farther for sales with more units because theres a higher probability of purchase.

Reference the auction. Include a reference to the auction website in your public notice. This gives you a mechanism to notify the public if the sale gets canceled and reduces your reliance on the newspaper to notify buyers of future sales.

Treat the process and buyers respectively. Buyers talk to each other. Many are professionals and know the owners who stage units to make them seem better than they actually are. If buyers sense the facility owner is gaming the process, theyll tell others, and your attendance will suffer in the long run.

Ultimately, the auction process is a tool of last resort. Owners should try to collect rent rather than host auctions. However, if your delinquent tenants leave you no choice but to conduct a lien sale, you might as well be successful and get as many buyers as possible to attend. Not only will it put more money back in your pocket, it will give you a better valuation when its time to sell your property.

Chris Hitler is an experienced self-storage owner and broker for the Argus Self Storage Sales Network. He launched RummageMarketplace.com with the aim to help the self-storage industry attract more buyers to lien-sale auctions. To reach him, call 312.404.7933.

An argument at Waikele Self Storage in Waipahu, Hawaii, on the morning of April 18 resulted in an assault arrest for a 25-year-old man.

Police reports say the suspect allegedly punched a 37-year-old man in the jaw and knocked him unconscious. The suspect then reportedly grabbed a bat and struck the older man, in addition to chasing him with a car, knocking him down and throwing rocks at him. Police arrested the suspect later that afternoon at his home.

Waipahu is a suburb of Honolulu. Waikele Self Storage is a standalone facility that was converted from former U.S. Navy ammunition storage bunkers. On its website, the facility advertises "ultimate" 24-hour onsite security. According to its posted hours of operation, the facility would have opened at 8 a.m. on the day of the alleged assault.

Voting is now open for the first ever Inside Self-Storage Best of Business opinion poll. During the poll, industry professionals will have the opportunity to choose their favorite companies in nearly 30 award categories such as Best Builder, Best Management Software, Best Customer Service and others. Voting is open to anyone in the self-storage industry.

Voting takes place on InsideSelfStorage.com through June 30. The results will be published online on Nov. 1 and in the November and December 2011 editions of ISS magazine. Best of Business winners will also be honored during a ceremony at the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, March 14-16, 2012.

For more than 20 years, ISS has provided informational resources to self-storage owners, managers, developers and investors. Its educational offerings include a monthly magazine, bi-annual tradeshows, an extensive website, an education institute and Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online community.

Investment Real Estate LLC (IRE), a property management and consulting firm specializing in the self-storage industry, appointed Jason S. Carl to assistant district manager for the companys central Pennsylvania market.

Recognized by his ability to increase revenue for the individual and group properties hes managed, Carl brings his unique management solutions to his new position. He will be responsible for managing the Moove In Self Storage741 store and assisting John Gilliland, company president, in the oversight of the central Pennsylvania portfolio of properties.

Carl began his career in self-storage more than 5 years ago. Prior to joining IRE, Carl held positions of increasing responsibility at Public Storage Inc., Storage Post and Storage Asset Management.

Hes lauded by clients for his superior customer service and has successfully turned poorly performing sites into profitable entities in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. We are pleased to have Jason join us in the central Pennsylvania market, and his strengths and experience will be a welcome addition to the team, as we continue to grow our portfolio, Gilliland said.

Im excited to join the Investment Real Estate Management team and be part of the strategic growth, Carl said.

Investment Real Estate LLC provides self-storage brokerage, feasibility and construction services to owners and investors in seven states.

Legislation that will improve the Illinois Self-Storage Facility Act for the states self-storage operators is progressing steadily toward law, having passed the Senate on April 13 with a 58 to 0 vote. Senate Bill 1394 will be reviewed by the House of Representatives once the 97^th General Assembly returns to session at the end of the month.

Sponsored by House Majority Leader Joseph M. Lyons (D-19 Chicago), SB 1394 is championed by the Illinois Self Storage Association (ISSA) with support from the national Self Storage Association. If passed into law, the bill will affect the following changes:

• Facility operators will be able to notify delinquent self-storage tenants of approaching lien sales of their property via First Class Mail with a certificate of mailing as opposed to the more expensive Certified Mail method.
• Though operators will still have to run a newspaper ad regarding upcoming lien sales, they will not have to publish a general description of the property being sold, which means shorter and less expensive advertising.
• Operators will be able to charge a late fee of $20 or 20 percent of a monthly rental, whichever is greater.
• Operators will be able to include a limitation of value in their self-storage lease agreements.
• Self-storage operators will only have to hold on to excess funds from an auction for one year as opposed to two years.
• Self-storage operators will be able to remove from their facilities motor vehicles that do not have titles.

The ISSA hopes to see SB 1394 passed out of the House without changes and on to the Governor for signing by mid-May. The bills status and details can be viewed at http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1394&GAID=11&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=57272&SessionID=84&GA=97.