How to Choose the Right Storage Facility

There are many different reasons that people decide to rent a self storage unit. Self storage is a great option for both personal and business storage. Life’s many events such as downsizing, moving to a new city, college or even getting married may require that you rent a storage unit at least once in your lifetime. There are certain factors that you need to look at when deciding to rent a storage unit. These factors will help you find the best storage solution for your needs.

What Do you Need to Store?

If you are storing business items, then your needs for self storage will be different than storing personal belongings. For businesses, electronics or paper documents should be stored in a climate-controlled storage unit. Important family items, photographs or even musical equipment should also be stored in a climate controlled storage unit. The temperature range of these storage units will help protect the items from damage due to extreme fluctuations in heat and humidity, but do check with your self storage provider to determine exact temperature settings. Another question to ask yourself is how many items will you be storing? If you are storing the contents of an apartment, then you would probably need a larger storage unit. If you are just storing business files, then you might only need a closet sized storage unit.

Location, Location, Location

Pick a self storage facility that is near to where you need to be. If you are a pharmaceutical or medical supply representative, then it might be a good idea to have your storage unit in the center of your sales territory for easier access to your samples. If you need to retrieve items from your storage unit on a regular basis, then it would be good to choose a facility that is closer to your home or business.

How Safe Do You Feel?

Make sure that the self storage facility is well-lit, gated and has computer keypad access. Take a look around to see if there is video surveillance in the facility as well. How does the storage facility look? If it looks un-kept or dirty then you might not want to choose to store your items there-remember the cheapest place to store is cheap for a reason. You want to have the peace of mind that your stored belongings are safe and you also want to feel safe when you visit the facility!  Facilities with resident managers offer an additional level of security.

Access to Your Stored Items

It is important to find a self storage facility that caters to your time schedule. Check the location’s gate hours and office hours to see if they match your schedule. There are some facilities that are only open during a specific time, while others offer 24 hour access. Another important aspect is the office hours and management availability for questions or purchasing packing supplies.

Contract Terms

Make sure that you read and understand the rental agreement that you are signing. All the terms and conditions should be clearly spelled out in the rental agreement. Finally, the rental agreement should show details of the cost of the rental, how to make payments and move-in or move-out information. ezStorage is conveniently located in Maryland and Northern Virginia to help with all of your storage needs. ezStorage has both drive-up storage units and climate controlled interior storage units. All of our facilities are clean, gated, well-lit with individual door alarms, video surveillance and key code access. For additional security, each location has a resident manager. Stop in to any one of our 45 storage locations to see how ezStorage has the right storage solution for you!