The Month of Standing Still
12/08/2006 12:47
Ever notice how nearly impossible it is to get things accomplished during the month of December? A few religious holidays, and suddenly the entire country is paralyzed with some torporic fever. Need to get something fixed? Forget it. Trying to mobilize a project? Don't bother. Need to get somewhere, buy something, find something, talk to someone? No, no, no and NO.
If you're a go-getter, the predicament can instigate unreserved frustration. Even if you're only a semi-motivated kind of person, you'll be driven to at least one utterance of profanity.
So I had to laugh today while reading the latest news on a facility I'd heard about through the grapevine: Eucalyptus at Beaumont, a "private storage community" specializing in the sale of boat, RV and vehicle condos. The site's owners keep a running progress report on their website. The page is humorously titled "Progress or lack thereof Report." I know they're not referring specifically to the time of year, but the headline so jives with my experiences this week that I had to give it a second look.
By the way, this is a fantastic read if you're new to the storage business—an honest glimpse of the development process. If you think you know what you're getting into, you might want to spend some time perusing the posts, which date back almost a year.
One last thing before I sign off: the site's most recent update refers to an article written about the facility by one of our competitors, the Mini-Storage Messenger. The facility owner writes, "See if you can pick out the tone that the self storage industry (your soon to be past landlords) are getting a bit nervous or anxious." He's referring to this idea that storage facilities whose business is based on unit rentals should somehow feel threatened by the burgeoning storage-condo market.
What do you think—should we worry?
User Comments !
There should be no reason why the self-storage industry should be worried. Yes, there is a flurry of these developments right now. But as the "pie eyed" developers get further into the development of their project and they discover just how difficult it is, many will pull out.
My project and others are not designed to "mainstream" the way self-storage is modeled. We are more of a boutique industry, serving only the "cream" of the RV'ers. Self-storage has nothing to worry about. However, anyone building enclosed rv storage units for rent should really take a second look at what is coming. That portion of the market will become extinct soon. As with my development, and others, buyers are not only buying for themselves, but I have quite a few beginner and seasoned investors buying units to rent out. Many are buying one for themselves, and a second one to rent out to support the unit they intend to keep. Others are buying blocks of buildings and starting their own storage business. The numbers do work out well.
Posted by: Ted Deits | December 23 2006 11:42:13
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