Show Up Early
Plan on showing up early so that you can sign all the necessary
documents and make sure that you are able to get into the auction. Most auctioneers will lock the gates after the
official time of the auction starts so be prompt. It is also wise to give the facility a call
prior to the auction to make sure that it is still being held. Sometimes a lessee will pay the back rent at
the last minute causing the auction to be called off. The lessee’s always have a chance to get
their stuff back and a lot of them will wait to the very last minute to pay
their dues.
Practice before you
play
Attend a couple of auction before you start bidding. It is always wise to get your feet wet before
you jump in the pool to test the waters.
The last thing you want to do is show up at an auction with the only
money you have and start bidding on units that you don’t know the value
of. Start visiting storage auctions on a
regular basis and get to know the people there.
The auctioneer is your best friend.
Sometimes you might be able to get extra info from them that the other
buyers don’t know about. They could
point out a particular item in the unit that others are not seeing. Also, making friends with other buyers is
always a good thing. You never want to
make enemies with the people that you are bidding against. They will always make sure that you pay more
for units if you do. Making friends with
them will allow for friendly like activity.
They might give you some important information that you never knew that
help you tons. Ask them questions and
pretend like you are fascinated with what they do and some will tell you almost
everything you need to know. If there is
one thing I know about most successful people is that they love telling people
how they did it. Use that to your
advantage.
Jumping right in
If you are going to start bidding on units right away make
sure that you bring cash and cash only.
Most facilities will only accept cash payment. Check with the facility to find out what
kinds of payments they accept for storage auctions. Make sure you bring plenty of cash with
you. The big dogs usually bring at least
$1000 to $10,000 dollars to every auction they attend and if they want a unit
they can get it. I have heard of unit
going for as much as $30,000 dollars. Although,
all units don’t always go for much, it’s just good practice to be ready for
anything. If you don’t have a thousand
right away, work your way up. Start out
with $500. I wouldn’t suggest showing up
with anything less than that though.
Live Auctions vs.
Blind Auctions
Most storage auctions are hosted at live auctions. The auctioneer will allow everyone 30 seconds
up to a couple of minutes to inspect the unit from the outside of the
unit. Going inside the unit is usually
prohibited and buyers are not allowed to touch anything. After everyone gets a chance to inspect the
unit, the auctioneer will usually start off the bidding process with a
suggestion. Most of the time the
auctioneer will try to start the bidding at what price he thinks it should
start at. If the auctioneer is saying, “Let’s
start this one off at $100 dollars”, that’s just a suggestion and you don’t have
to start at that amount. Start off at
you own price. Bid $1 dollar if you want
to. There are no rules when it comes to
this part.
In Blind auctions the bidding process is usually the same
but and you do not get to see the content of the unit before bidding.
Winning the Unit
Most of these auctions go really quick and end in a matter
of seconds or minutes. If you win the
unit, expect to make payment right after the last auction has taken place.
If you do win the unit, the facility will expect you to
remove the items as soon as possible. Most
facilities will give you at least 24-48 hours to remove the content but will
allow more time if you simply ask them for it.
If you do need more time most facilities will allow you to make a temporary
deposit until unit is cleaned and the contents are removed.
Storing the items
It’s kind of funny how you just bought a storage unit and
now you might need one to hold the contents.
This is unless you have a large garage or alternative place to store the
items while getting ready to sell them. If
you do not have a place to store the items ask the facility manager to rent the
unit that you just bought. That way you
do not have to move anything and can go through the unit at your own pace. Be ready for anything though. You might also need helping moving the
items. Budget or U haul usually have
pretty good deals on small trucks that you could rent to move the unit
contents.
Now the fun part begins.
Placing value on the contents and finding out where to sell the items
at. This part is the key and if you are going to make money in this business,
learning how much items are worth and finding places to sell them can be invaluable.
Storage Battles
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