When you consider that the average American home contains about 300,000 items, it’s not surprising that there’s such a high demand for offsite storage facilities. Recent data shows that one out of every ten people in the United States is currently renting additional space for their possessions. It’s interesting to note that 90% of the storage units within the United States were occupied in 2015 alone.
A recent survey showed that for households with two-car garages, 25% don’t have enough room to park their car inside. Another 32% of households with two-car garages just have enough space to park a single car. Since many homeowners and renters use their garages for storage and workshops rather than their cars and other vehicles, it makes sense to rent a climate controlled storage facility instead. This is a particularly good idea when these homes are located in regions that experience inclement weather.
Furthermore, many of these climate controlled storage facilities have vehicle storage available.This can be a welcome option for households with recreational vehicles, classic cars, or an extra family car that they’re not ready to part with yet.
Climate controlled storage facilities are also convenient for people that move on a regular basis, particularly if they’re relocating to another area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the average person in this country will move 12 times throughout their lives. Renters tend to move more often than homeowners, however, and 33% of the country’s renters move at least once every year.
Another plus of renting a storage unit or two is that roughly 31% of these facilities provide additional services, such as truck rentals. It goes without saying that having access to a truck for moving is convenient. Furthermore, it’s likely that everything they need to move will fit in these trucks, so they’ll only need to make a single trip.
It’s probably safe to say that many Americans are attached to their stuff. While it may be past time to declutter and go through all those boxes and bins in the garage, being able to keep these items safe in storage units can be a welcome option. Once they’re ready to go through these items for donation or passing on to friends and family, it can be easier to take care of this task at a storage facility. This is because they won’t be experiencing the day-to-day distractions of home.
It’s good to know that people can rent storage units for a few months to several years. While 13% of self-storage renters indicated that they just planned to rent a unit for up to three months, 18% indicated that they planned to do so for three to six months. Other self-storage renters plan to keep their items at these facilities for seven months to 12 months, which was the case with 18% of the survey participants. Two years was the planned time frame for 22% of the participants, and 30% planned to keep their items in storage for over two years.
Whether someone needs to rent a storage unit for a brief or longer period of time, it’s important to note that these facilities provide a safe and climate controlled storage environment. When individuals and/or entire households are planning to relocate to another city or state, being able to store their household items during this transition may reduce some of the stress associated with this process and even expedite it as well.
