My wife and I are new to of course this forum and south arizona as well. We relocated here from south florida, Trust me a Major culture change.

We were managers of a +900 unit facility near fort lauderdale for nearly 8 months. the occupany had taken a nose dive with we took it over due to tropical storm damage and the local economy took a major hit too.

Just when we began to see some positive results with the increase in revenue and occupancy, the owner showed up and informed us he had sold the facility and we had about 2 weeks to find a new job and a new place to live. This was because the new owners were goning to run the facility themselves.

We began looking that day and over the next week had some bites but no openings in florida anywhere. we looks up and down the east coast and found nothing.

Finally we talking with an new owner of a facilty here in south arizona and we agreed to terms so here we are. and we have been here for about 5 weeks.

Well sorry for the babbling. It was an interesting and fearful experience not knowing from not knowing if we would find a new place in the time frame given.

Has anyone had similar experiences?

David

Hi David! No we haven't had that experience....yet, but it is something that I'm sure is in the back of the minds of all resident storage managers. You have to have a fall-back plan and fall-back money saved because at any time you could both lose your jobs AND lose your housing all at the same time, which is kind of unique to this industry.

It helps if you don't mind moving anywhere in the country for your next job, but in our case all of our family is in the SE US, and I would hate to have to move so far away.

Good morning Lisa and thanks for the reply.

Indeed it was a tough ordeal and we were very lucky to find a new facilty in such a short time and i would hate to see anyone else go thru it but as you said its best to be prepared.

We were able to save up about $4,000 from our pay and little bonus and the former owner did help arrange for a lower cost Uhaul truck otherwise we wouldnt have been able to make the move.

I do look forward to reading and contributing to this forum as well as attending local shows and the main events in vegas. We have 3 years experience in storage but this industry is constantly evolving with so much to learn.

Have a great day

David

David,

Welcome to Southern Arizona. I would also like to invite you and your wife to join our Assocation ( Arizona Self Storage Association) if you and your company are not already members. We have several sessions annually around the state and this is a great way to not only stay up to date with current and future laws in our state but a great way to net work and meet new people.

We welcome you to Arizona and if I can be of any help to you, please feel free to contact me.

__________________
Mel Holsinger, President
Professional Self Storage Management, LLC
3434 E. Kleindale Ste. E
Tucson, AZ 85716
O: 520.320.9135
F: 520.320.9435
www.proselfstorage.com