Good evening, everyone. New here, but not to storage. Have run facilities for around 18 years in Chicgo, Florida and now in the mountains in western North Carolina. I have run big places, bigger places, and now a small place. They all have their own problems and foibles, but, all have one thing in common. Overall, the people we do business with are very good people.

Smeone mentioned a nice apartment, etc. For years, I have tried to convince people that ask for advice that if you build an apartment on your facility, make it a place that you would not mind living in. Additionally, pay a good salary and benefit package, and you will get good, professional management for your investment.

Unfortunately, my experience has been that the big companies, and you know who you are, ignore this and pay poorly.

To all of those that are new to the industry, it is a blast.

Astro or, Bob if you prefer.

Astro:

Welcome to SSTalk. I look forward to seeing more of your posts drawing on those years of experience. You are right on with the question to an owner building a manager residence: “Would you live there?” It is a simple standard that would result in the upgrade of most apartments. The follow-up question to that is: “When was the last time you painted or updated the residence?” I have seen countless facilities over the years that are 15 to 20 years old and have the same applicances!!!

Again welcome to the community.

MisterJim444

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Learning Never Ends

Thanks, and am glad to be here.

Astro

Welcome!

I am one of the lucky managers that has an owner who knows how to build an "apartment" -- it's a 1600 sq/ft 2 bedroom, 1 & 1/2 bath house! The office is where the garage would be.

The only change I would ask for is a larger office so we had more room to display moving supplies. They are considering expanding the office when we put in our RV storage area.

Anyway -- welcome and enjoy all the fantastic information available here!

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Wayne
All American Self Storage
Palmdale, CA.
webmaster@all-americanselfstorage.com

Glad to have someone with your experience join us. You're right, too often those manager apartments get overlooked. They're cramped spaces with outdated appliances. I'd be interested to hear more about the types of apartments self-storage owners are offering.....

Amy

Our 2 bedroom, 1 bath and home office 1000+ square feet apartment is modern, has updated appliances and a laundry room and pantry. It's bright and airy - many people comment on how shocked they are how beautiful it is.