We had a customer who would enter the property every evening around 9:30. He would then not punch out until 7:30 the next morning. Come to find out he broke up with his girlfriend and was living in the unit. Ouch!

that's why any facility needs to have an exit keypad at the gate. Anyone who thinks there is savings to be had in using a free exit loop is kidding himself. The price difference is a few hundred bucks, meaningless in the overall scope of bringing a property online. And one part of the payoff is an activity log that charts when people come into the site and when they leave. It's good for instances like the one cited above and for nailing down who was on the grounds when an incident occured.

To take it further, the software of most access systems also lets you determine the hours during which a tenant can access the site. No one needs 24 hour access, and few people - mostly businesses that store equipment or supplies - need the ability to go onsite after 9 or 10 pm.

We do have an exit keypad.

If this went on for more then one night I would have to question the manager and the fact that they are not watching things close enough.

We limit our gate access from 7 to 7 -- if anyone is still in at 7pm I drive around and politely ask them to leave so I may enjoy my evening.

So far we have only lost one tenant in 3 years because of our limited hours.

__________________
Wayne
All American Self Storage
Palmdale, CA.


All arguments can be resolved ... with high explosives and Humor!!!

that would never work here Autodoc..most of my people move in after 7pm...I rented 6 units today, and 4 of them are still out there moving in...they all have to work tomorrow!

and we have about 200 units rented to commercial customers most of whom have to be in here before 7 am...and the rest of them like the restuarants and the stores have to be here whenever they need something. We have 22 landscapers who all come in here early and get started to beat the mid-day Florida heat.

And then we have the rentals who store boats or motorcycles.....some of my tenants in the surrounding apartment complexes...their motorcycles are their only form of transportation...their garage is here...they have to be able to access their garage whenver they need to go somewhere.

but they never bother us.....I always tell them that we live upstairs and that my husband is not the most pleasant of people when woken up in the middle of the night.

You say you only have lost one tenant? If the economy continues as it is, you may want to think about that....how many potential tenants might be seeing your limited access hours on your website or hearing about them over the phone and may not be coming by to even look at the facility?

We have 24-hr gate access here, and use it as a selling feature for the facility. We have a large RV parking area, and these folks really like the 24-hr access. They can come and pick up their RV or boat early in the morning if they want to, or drop it off later at night after they have unpacked from a trip. Business customers really like it too. We've been with the company almost two years, and there has never been an issue because of the gate hours. If you check your gate access records daily, you could pick up a potential problem client pretty quickly.

then the activity log in your software would reveal who was still on the property when you wanted to close up shop for the night. The exit pad and log have value even before they are used. Checking the log may be a good thing to add to the end-of-day checklist.

interesting discussion regarding the various hours of access different places employ. Just my two cents:
-my biggest objection to 24 hour access is that nothing good comes of someone being on a property at 3 in the morning. Seems like a recipe for deadbeats moving out before the system has a chance to lock them out. Put a different way - who needs to check on their households goods in the middle of the night?
-I understand extended hours for commercial customers but there is also a business consideration here: they are getting a higher level of service; shouldn't they pay a little more? You cannot have tiered pricing based on access if everyone's access is the same.
-extended hours work better with commercial customers because there is usually some sort of paper trail attached to people in business. They are far less of a risk factor.
-same principle used with business people applies to boat and RV folks. If people get a premium product, there should be an accompanying price tag to it. Someone with a half million dollar bus isn't going to flinch at $5 if it means accessing the vehicle whenever he/she wants. These people are used to convenience anyway.

Basically, one size fits all hours limit your revenue potential and, with some tenants, carry built-in risks. But that's just me.

Alex, our normal access hours are 6 am to 10 pm. We have the option of giving a tenant 24 hour access at our discretion and based on their needs.

If a new move in needs 24 hour access the first night to move in, we can change back to normal after they are done. I don't know why but we historically rent more units on Tues and Wed then we do on Sat or Sun. So people are moving into storage around their working hours....particularly lately when they are arriving home from work to find sheriff's eviction notices on their door.

We don't charge extra to give commercial customers or vehicle storers 24 hour access. I'd rather have a facility full of commercial customers with 24 hour access then a facility full of residential furniture storers with daylight access hours. Yes the commercial customers are getting a higher level of service, but they are also a higher level of customer....they don't move out and leave a big mess behind or try to hide their old mattresses behind a building, they usually don't move out at all, and they ALWAYS pay on time.

I think the deadbeat objection to 24-hr access depends upon the area you're in. In Texas, we overlock on the sixth day after rent charges and gate access is denied at the same time. I understand in places like California units can't be overlocked until something like 30 days after rent charges. In that case, I could see more of a danger of deadbeats trying to sneak out in the night. As well, I can see where 24-hr access wouldn't be prudent in areas where there is a high crime rate.

Who needs to check on their household goods in the middle of the night? Maybe someone who works odd shifts. Not everyone works 9-5 and has Sat/Sun. off.

At any rate, an interesting discussion on the pros/cons of limiting gate hours even if the thread didn't start out as such!