1.) Security: Is the property fenced? What type of gate? Some gates are manually locked of an evening & manually unlocked in the morning. Thus gives you no access to your property during night time hours.

  2.) How well is the facility lit at night? Many facilities have light fixtures, however it is commonplace in the industry for operators to get their units rented, then not do a good job maintaining their facility. Lights that go out or fail are often at the top of the list of things that are not properly maintained.

  3.) Location is a big factor in security. A well located, high traffic area increases security.

  4.) Does the facility use recording type video surveylance? Is the equipment truly effective? Are the cameras even real?

  5.) Has the facility ever been broken into? How many times? How long ago?

  6.)What (if any) kind of divider walls are used? Do the walls go all the way to the top? 

  1.) Do the units offer electricity?

  2.) What is the construction of the unit ie: concrete floor, steel construction or wood?

  3.) Does the roof leak? While some buildings may actually leak, many metal buildings condensate or sweat on the ceiling. As the morning & evening tempatures transition with the interior tempatures inside the building, this often times creates moisture to gather on the ceiling & ultimately drip onto an occupants personal items.

  4.)How easy is it to reach the facility by phone?

  5.) What type of door is used? Roll up doors are usually the most cost effective door to put on a storage building. These doors serve the industry well as long as they aren't too big & heavy. As these doors get 12 feet to 16 feet tall they become too heavy & after a little use they often don't operate as designed. Usually they are either extremely hard to open, or the opposite, if not opened all the way, they tend fall closed if not held open.

  6.) How much room is available for backing into a unit (this would apply mostly to boat & R. V. owners)?

  7.) Does the unit have a light inside?

  

  8.) Is the facility flat enough to where you can easily maneuver your vehicle & or trailer in & out of a given unit that's available?

  9.) How well does the property shed water from rain fall? It is not uncommon for an occupant to be putting things in or getting things out of their unit while raining outside or shortly after raining. This creates the potential of tracking mud in & out of the unit.

  10.) Do any of the units leak or take on water at the floor level (primarily at the door)?

   Like in most things in life, you generally get what you pay for. A person can save money by giving up certain features like structure quality, location, concrete floor, accessibility, good lighting, security, such as fencing & video surveylance. Obviously if a person wants the extra features that are available in the storage industry they should expect to pay a little more as it costs the operator more money to provide such features.

   In summary, a person should strongly consider the personal value of whatever they may looking store & make their decision with that in mind along with the Things You Should Know, above.