Americans own a lot of stuff, sometimes they own so much stuff that they don’t have room for it in their homes. When that happens, what isn’t donated or given away to someone else, most people rent a storage unit to hold their extra stuff. Worldwide there were approximately 58,000 storage facilities in 2009. About 46,000 of those facilities were located in the United States.
Storage facilities have room for most types of household items, but there are regulations about can be put in a unit. Flammable, combustible, toxic or other hazardous items cannot be placed in a storage unit. Depending on what items are being stored, renters of these units can opt for climate-controlled units or store their cars, boats or motor homes out in the open. However, not all storage facilities offer the same services, so the facility should be contacted to find out if the over vehicle or climate controlled storage units.
Among other self storage facts is that there are over 30,000 individual owners that have just one storage facility. There are also five public corporations that are in the storage industry including: Public Storage, Extra Space Storage, CubeSmart, Sovran Self Storage (known as Uncle Bob’s), and U-Haul International. Most companies rent storage units on a month-by-month basis, though longer leases are available. The storage business can be competitive because it generates over $24 billion dollars per year. To ensure their company gets a share of that money, storage facilities may offer the first month of storage free or coupons for discounts on storage fees.
As for self storage facts about renters, about 9% of all U.S. households use storage facilities for the excess items they own or for temporary use when moving into another home. Of that 9%; 68% of renters live in single-family households and 27% live in an apartment or condominium. Even though many of the single-family homes have storage on site, such as a garage, attic or basement, many of them still opt to lease a storage unit for their property. About 63% of renting households have an annual income of at least $75,000.
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