Submitted by Happy_Confection90 t3_z7dyxb in newhampshire
It seems like close to half of the new construction in New Hampshire is just dozens and dozens of new self-storage places. Why do we need all these places, because we buy too much stuff, or because we're left too much stuff by dead relatives?
If you, or people you know, are using self-storage, what are you or they storing?
Beanie Baby storage until we time the market juuust right. Sell, Mortimer! Sell!
So you're paying how much a month to store worthless shit?
Not anymore, but I paid $80/month for a decade or more.
My BIL used to have a paid storage unit. He kept seasonal stuff in there (when the lawn mower goes in the Christmas tree comes out, kinda thing.) I think some sports equipment and maybe small furniture. His house doesn't have an attic and the whole basement is his tech equipment and toys, they have multiple cars and they needed the barn for the horses and their equipment, so.... gotta rotate the leftovers to only that which is necessary.
My husband has one, because I made him get it. He's in construction and was storing tools/scaffolding/ladders at our house. It started out just between jobs, but then piled up over the years. At one point we had about 20 ladders, scaffolding and 4 wheelbarrows of all sizes scattered around our garage, we couldn't even park the cars, so I made him get a storage space.
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I have refused a ton of family "heirlooms" and old furniture primarily because I have a small cape house. It's either clutter the house beyond belief OR buy a storage unit. I don't want either.
So $10,000, plus what it cost to haul it all to the dump.
See why people build storage sheds?
Low maintenance, recurring income investment. Especially as people move outwards away from big cities.
I’d just sell all of my shit for sure but I’ve talked to a few people that have moved all over the place and still had “sentimental” stuff in other states/across the country.
It’s a pretty smart investment, I believe location is key. ( obviously ) the higher population or a growing population the better. Low maintenance for any business is sought after
Well, no shit but the stuff was here and I was on the west coast...
Storage facility owner here, think of it as an extension of your home, that’s how a lot of folks use units. Side note, there’s a ton of development (as you mentioned) and people not doing their homework. In one of our towns alone there are 3/4 new facilities going in, the town most definitely cannot support that number of units. Reached out to the new developers, they didn’t do feasibility studies and had no idea other people were building. You’ll see people getting burned overbuilding soon.
They can be handy for if you're moving or in a temporary living situation, but anyone who has things in there long term needs to reassess their priorities.
My first wife was a hoarder; when we separated, I told I’d stop paying for the storage unit. When she said “whatever,” I took a pickup truck and with the help of friends we emptied it. Took 3 trips to empty it. Weirdest thing I can recall tossing was a tall plastic kitchen garbage can, filled with used sneakers.
It’s a running joke between my wife and I. All new construction is a self storage.
“Hey, do you have a TON of plastic garbage and hoarded nonsense in your house? Do you need to stash it somewhere that costs more, so that you can eventually give us your crap when you eventually stop paying? Have we got the place for youuuuuuu!!!!”
So I’ve used storage units a few times. For the purposes of having less stuff in a house while it’s listed for sale, storing stuff while in temporary living places between homes and once while I was traveling for work for an extended period.
It is funny that every time I’ve done this I let the people at the storage unit place how long I need it they always say some version of “yeah right that’s what they always say” and then imply they expect I’ll be renting it for the rest of my life.
When I lived in apartments I had to rent one to store my bike, snowboard gear, racks for my truck, and my 17' sea kayak, it sucked because the cost of a year of a unit was equal to buying a new kayak each season. Glad I have a house w/a garage now.
When I would go to get my kayak to go paddling, I'd see people's units open with just tons of shit: particle board furniture, bags and bags of baby clothes, literally garbage.
And yes, I held on to stupid shit too because I had the space in the storage unit, but then I'd have to lug that crap to the next place I lived (and to a new storage unit). Now I'm all about downsizing to the bare essentials, but it's a struggle to get rid of some things because "they're already paid for, and I might use them again some time". I have to tell that voice in my head to fuck off, hahaha.
She needed those. What the fuck?
According to this website about self-storage statistics, not only does NH have almost a square foot more per resident's worth of self storage than the national average, NH has by far the most square footage of self storage in any New England state. Like, nearly double some other New England states.
I live in apartments, and there is absolutely no storage here. So seasonal things (holidays, kids outdoor sports stuff, beach things). Almost everyone I know in my building also has a unit at one or another storage facility. It really sucks, and even more so when they raise the prices all the time. Until I can afford to buy a house though, I don't have another option.
There seems to be a fair amount of trailer parks/mobile homes where people might need extra storage.
When I listed my house for sale last year I rented a storage unit to clear the house a little for showing. My house sold super fast and I had to find a place to live so I wound up in a tiny condo and I still have the storage unit full of stuff. I've been attempting to buy another house for 18 months now but thanks to this market I haven't been successful yet. Kills me to pay the money for the storage unit every month though...
I feel bad for the homes across from the Blue Bird storage construction on rte 9 in Dover. It is no doubt going to look like ass. Blocks their view of a nice 100+ acre field. 🙄
My sibling rents one. They were living out of an RV for the summer and are now renting a room. They have some inherited things, but it’s mostly stuff they’ve bought. I think seasonal clothes and stuff. Some furniture. When they find a more stable place to live they’ll give up the unit. I don’t pay for storage, myself. No need personally.
It’s definitely getting overdeveloped. It’ll stop once new units go up and sit empty and all these bozos who built without doing proper due diligence go underwater. It’s also a “hot” asset class so people are chasing the run. There are a lot of people who think it’s easy money, it’s not, and can be ops heavy.
Everything I inherited is back home because I can’t afford to pay to ship it out here. I’m in an apartment here and have basically no storage. If it weren’t for my car’s big trunk, I’d have to keep my snow tires in storage. I’d assume it was mostly column b, but it really depends on where the person came from.
I moved from one house to another. Only had a unit between moves for a month. I see a lot of people who own condos, mh or have apartments that store their seasonal or other things in them. My brother and gf have a few since they are between moves as well.
The one in hampstead is almost done, it definitely stands out but I think aesthetically it’s not a terrible looking building
Those from NH grew up in Hand-me-downs. We are kings and queens of dirt. And other good things.
According to my research of watching storage wars, bins and bags full of crap that apparently sells for retail price at consignment stores, with the occasional priceless artifacts
Can one inherit a dead body really lifelike mannequin?
I remember driving by a billboard for a storage place named "Grandma's Attic". My colleague said "Why don't they call it what it actually is?" - "Shit you don't need!" ;-)
Okay cool so I’m not the only one noticing this
stuff i cant fit in the tiny ass apartment i had to downsize into and is the only thing i can afford in the state anymore
I wonder if the lack of sales tax has people from other states storing stuff here too. But like you, I have definitely noticed the ridiculous amount of self-storage, especially in southern New Hampshire.
Looking at you Epping.
From the people I know who rent them:
Dover just finished one, now its starting another 3 minutes down the road from the one just built. and 2 other storage facilities 5 minutes from these locations.
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New ones going in at the old farmland that they wanted to do some minor league base ball sports jamboree thingy. This one is a real shame as it was a beautiful landscape, to be turned into some ugliness.
priceless artifacts the owner of the storage lot sprinkles in in order to market a reality tv show.
Whaaaa? So grandpa didn’t store his antique hand carved marionettes in a storage locker with old clothes, particleboard furniture and vhs tapes?
Yeah, all my stuff doesn't fit in this tent police steal from me every week or so.
People I personally know with storage units are either people between homes, college students, or people who downsized but don't want to give up their crap quite yet.
I had 3 different things than you but also know people using units for these things too
I saw on antiques road show a lamp that went for $500. My lamps must be worth at least that!
"Broken padded toilet seat, yup that's $50."
Investors capitalizing on some folks' propensity to hoard useless items to the point of paying multiple hundreds of dollars per month to keep them indefinitely? I'm not saying it's the only storage scenario but it has to be a large fraction of the industry.
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Vermont is just filling up every field with solar panels.
Maybe we could fill the field with storage sheds and then put solar panels on top. At least add some utility to those ugly fields of panels.
But that's my point. There's a market for people spending $10,000 for shit that they don't care about, why wouldn't you build more?
Did you notice a sign out in front of my house that said "Dead N***** Storage"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVrFuGJ2QjQ
I know exactly what you mean - I can see one from my home and there are two another mile or two away. In a relatively rural part of Southern NH.
Neighbors of mine just cleaned out one of theirs. Two years after moving. They were just lazy and didn't mind paying god knows how much when they had a barn they could move their junk into. Honestly, some people don't know how to get rid of stuff - or to simply not buy things they barely or never use.
Some things you cannot place in an unheated barn - and if you run a business, inventory can pile up. So storage spaces make sense. But the vast majority of people I know who have storage spaces never really do much more than just fill them and forget. The rest of us have barns that get filled with just tons of junk.
More people can't afford to live indoors, but still have stuff they want to keep.
While rents have gone up, space in new newly built apartments has seemingly gone down. If you want to keep anything beyond a spare set of clothes, I can see a need for a storage unit.
If this was a warmer climate, I'd say it was being used as housing, as in Snow Crash.
most of the storage units at my facility are tradespeople (painters, electricians, etc).
then me, walking my bicycle back to the storage unit. in an apartment because we've failed at buying a house.
Incorrect. Most people can afford to live indoors.
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Up North a lot of people are in Condos or something similar. I love my condo but hate not being able to have a garage. So the storage unit has all the off season toys: Bike, bikes, kayaks, winter/summer tires, bike racks, summer yard furniture. Its pretty common up north to like the low maintenance and low taxes of a condo but need someplace to keep your outdoors stuff.
Their political opinions
I’m surprised we don’t have self-storage units that are designed to store all of your self-storage units in.
> My lamps must be worth at least that!
Not after you park them in a storage unit for a few months!
That's what kills me, people paying more to store things than the worth of the item.
My dad's and architect and the number of self storage units being built is astounding. We have theorized that it's 2 things, boomers had a shit ton of stuff and are dying / downsizing. When the younger generation is inheriting the things, they live mostly in smaller rental units ( home ownership is waayyyy down) so there's nowhere to put the things. It's all across the country too, so it's a massive shift of just stuff people can't fit. This is why I only buy from the used market these days, everything's so cheap!
We buy stuff we don't need (petrock). With money we don't have CC. Then we spend more money to store the stuff we don't need. Then we go buy more stuff.
Storage units appeal to every type of customer. Lower middle and upper class. At the end of the day people like their shit..and sometimes it’s an easier option then storing at your own property. Being someone who has built and worked at a few facilities you’d be surprised what a lot of people are putting in their units.
The circle of capitaliiiiiism
You may want to delete this billion dollar idea, just saying...
Can confirm. Most people I see are not sleeping outdoors.
Storing dead relatives.lol
Young people can't afford homes. And now their entitled boomer parents are tipping over left and right. Where do you put all the crap they insisted you save for the next generation of family that can't afford a home because the rich are getting richer? Storage units.
I used a storage unit for approximately one year - I quickly left an apartment/housemate situation due one of the housemates devolving into lunacy. I ended up renting a single room in someone's house, and things like hand tools, car parts, and kayaks and such that had lived in my own storage section had to go into storage. Additionally, things like the couch and tables and such that I owned that were in common areas had to go into storage as well. The storage unit situation lasted about a year until I bought a fixer-upper of my own.
More than just storage units, towns like Salem, Windham, Londonderry, Derry, Raymond, Epping, are building like crazy. Shit is stupid expensive everywhere and people (like me) moved or are moving to NH from MA, NY, NJ, RI, CT, because NH is awesome, has no state income tax, sales tax, etc. I sold my house in MA, bought a new house in NH, but needed a storage unit because my old house closed three weeks before my new house was ready to move in. Lots of people have transitioned to working remote, so cities are emptying out combined with people selling expensive large homes and downsizing to smaller houses and condos. Bottom line, with a massive influx of people coming to NH from other states, more storage places is a no brainer.
Poor gonna do what poor gonna do
What does this mean?
That's because of all of the apartments that I'm being built. People don't have basements or attics anymore
I work at a storage place and last week I found out one of our customers got his unit to store his elderly mother's things but hadnt checked what she packed. When he went back the unit stunk and the boxes were full of random stuff including packages of raw meat. The point of this story? A lot of people are storing random crap
My apartment has very little storage, so I mostly keep seasonal items in a storage unit. Holiday decorations, snow tires, off season clothes, etc.
Also, my apartment before this was bigger so I have a few household items that I don't have space for now but keep in storage so I don't have to re-buy them in the future when/if I move.
Ive noticed that here in massachusetts aswell, its gotta be a bit of A and B but also, folks are losing their housing or are at risk of losing it and some.people are capitalizing on the seemingly inevitable need to store stuff for lots of people
Mostly shit I don't want anymore but can't throw away.
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One can only assume they’re full of guns, ammunition, and sex dolls in the shape of guns and ammunition.
Follow these Steps....
Boating Accident
Rent a storage locker under ex-wife's dogs name (ie: Scrappy Doo Smith).
place sex dolls in storage locker.
Profit!
Until the consumer base's buying power completely bottoms out because their paychecks haven't kept up with inflation, the circle stops, and the Right gets to see what an actual Communist revolution looks like.
The extremism of a revolution is directly proportional to the abuse to which the oppressed class was subjected. The longer we go without serious economic reform, the bloodier the revolution will be when it comes.
Ammo for the out of staters
We don't use self-storage but I try to clean the place out regularly. I have about six computers to sell so that should free up some space. I'm also going to get a shelving system from Home Depot which should create about 18 square feet of floor space.
Formula: if you don't use it in five years, get rid of it.
I grew up on hand me downs too, and playing in the dirt. I’m the queen of my backyard. But I still can’t afford to bring my family stuff out here and my regular/snow tires are an obnoxious addition to my car and/or living room decor that I wish I had room to store elsewhere
Probably stuff that a wife has threatened to throw out and the husband put into storage in order to save it from her ire.
It's not junk, its stuff that you may need someday or stuff that will be collectible and worth a lot of money.
It seems you're imagining them full of someone's hoarding overflow, obviously egged on by reality shows. Honestly, pretty judgmental and uncharitable. I'm pretty sure the more common use case is related to moving, life transitions, and housing insecurity.
Where do you put your stuff when you can only afford to rent a 2br apartment, between 4 adults? A storage unit.
Where do you put your stuff in the summer as a college student? A storage unit.
Where do you put your stuff when an entire city moves out on 8/31 and moves in on 9/1? A storage unit.
Where do you put your aging relative's belongings when they are suddenly unable to care for themselves and need to move into assisted living? A storage unit. What, you don't seriously believe their kids have a house, do you? In this economy?! Who can afford a mortgage and elder care? It takes time to sort through all that stuff. In the meantime, storage units.
For a more scientific answer, ask the clerk that works there, what the average customer's using them for. Probably all kinds of reasons. The housing insecurity aspect is particularly apparent when you sign up for one, though. A lot of emphasis is placed on how living in the units is forbidden, and how many homeless people this company has had to evict from the facility... It's really quite bleak. Towns have no problem permitting climate-controlled houses for our stuff, but fuck people, am I right? They won't even let them have a tent. You will own nothing and be happy.
As for me, I've only ever had a storage unit for a few months at a time. I kinda doubt there's that many people out there, keeping the same unit for years and years.
The storage unit by my place is used as a workshop rental thing. People store like wood and big tools and stuff and then use it to make things as well. Maybe because of the lack of garages?
1WantT0Bel1eve t1_iy61heh wrote
Inherited shit that everyone in the family thought would be valuable. None of it is, and my wife and I have vowed to not do this to our kids.