As I’m writing this I realized that it is ending up as a rambling post more so that a well throughout expression, so I went back to put in this disclaimer, that well… this is just a random jumble of me telling my thoughts and experiences of going to Storage Unit Auctions yesterday, and I feel this will work best as me just rambling in the long run rather than going back to clean it up into a more structured post.
So yesterday (Wednesday the 12th) I went to another set of storage unit auctions. This was my 2nd time going, as I went once in the first week of December with my Dad. After going then, we knew we wanted to try it again sometime even if we hadn’t bought anything on that first trip. Well with the holidays, and my work schedule it was determined this Wednesday would be our next chance and we spent the next month or so waiting for it to come up.
Tuesday night we were left with the choice of two storage unit auctions, one series going on in Indianapolis and the other being the same route we took last time, Starting in Franklin and heading south. We ended up opting for the Indianapolis route as it offered more units for sale, and we wanted to check it out. Dad claimed that I would have to drive if it was in Indy, but then he refused to let me drive yesterday anyway so there was no real difference there. We take the old minivan because it gets decent gas mileage and without the back seats in, we can haul a lot of stuff in the back if we were to buy a unit.
Casey wanted to go with us this time, but she wore out pretty early into the day and spent a lot of the auctions sitting in the van sleeping or playing her DS, I didn’t think she’d like it and I doubt she will go again.
How do they work / What are they: What happens is if you own a unit at a U-Store-It place, and you don’t pay your rent… after 90 days they auction off your unit to the highest bidder at a public auction. Often times a storage unit will only have 4-5 units go up for sale each month, so an auctioneer takes people around to various locations and sells a bunch off. Now you don’t really know what you are buying… the open up the door and everyone in the crowded gets about 5 minutes to look and see what they can from the door…. You can’t go in or touch anything, it’s only what you can see from the door… so you never know what’s hiding back there.
The crowd: These auctions were really crowded in the morning, probably at least 150 people at the first auction location. The two TV shows highlighting these auctions “Storage Wars” on A&E and “Auction Hunters” on Spike have really peaked public interest. I mean that is what really got Dad and I interested in these auctions, we knew they went on but had no idea as to how they worked. After watching the shows we decided to go give it a look. (Though Dad does go to 2-3 farm/estate auctions a year, so he isn’t really an auction newbie.) Anyway, a lot of the crowd has been inspired by those shows as you can hear conversations about them pretty much at every stop between various groups. As the day went on though the crowd thinned down, and pretty much only the more serious bidders were there at the last couple we went to.
The People: The people that go to these things are an interesting group in themselves. I’d break it down as such: 1) the Veterans – these are the guys/gals who have been doing this for awhile and know what they are doing. They have their own circle, but some will strike up conversations with newbie’s. 2) The newbies, I’d consider myself in this category, even though we haven’t bought anything we are serious about it and are willing to invest some money into it. 3) The Over-my-head – this is a subdivision of newbies, who jump out there and get something, but after listing to them talk you can tell they haven’t thought through the logistics of selling and profiting on what they have just bought. 4) The looky-loos – people who have come out to see what it’s all about, but aren’t willing to invest any real money in the auctions.
Dad and I have theoretically talked out a lot of the logistics of these storage auctions, really we analyze a lot, which might be why we haven’t got our first unit yet. We are probably over thinking everything too much, which makes us too cautious. Between locations and then later on at home (as you often go to 6-7 different storage places during the course of one days set of auctions) we probably break down every unit 3-4 times trying to spin it different ways as to the pros and cons and where we thought the price should have been. Actually these discussions are one of the best things about going, an exercise in financial theory I guess. I do think us breaking through and buying a unit is the next real step we need to take, even if we only end up breaking even on it, we need to take that risk step.
Actually in a throwback to the types of people at these things, Dad and I must not look too clueless as sometimes the veterans will talk to us about things, so I guess we must not seem like too big of idiots. I actually like standing in the crowd and just trying to pick up on other people’s conversations, you can learn a lot that way. Anyway I view it as a positive that we aren’t looked at as out of our league.
The Weather: The worst part about the day was the weather yesterday, it was cold… and snowy, and since the auction was going slow we stood outside in the cold and snow for probably 4-5 hours yesterday. The snow covered my feet and melted on and off between getting in the van and back out again throughout the day leaving me with cold and wet socks almost all day. Really I remember my toes being numb most of the day, but I guess that’s the cost of doing this. My toes on my right foot hurt all the way through this afternoon, well not hurt, but ached… it was strange but they feel good now. I guess from just being cold and wet all day.
Random Fact: A lot of those storage unit locations, will have a door every so oftern between the big overhead doors, if you enter it, you will find that the middle of those buildings are full of smaller interior storage units. If you wanted to have a haunted hause location.... these would be pefect... a long corridor hallway, industrial looking and with a numbered door every 5-6 feet down the passage. We had to walk down about a 150 foot passage like this in the dark, it was cave like spook... which means really cool!
The Auctioneer: Ok, the weather wouldn’t have been so bad if the auctioneer had run things a little smoother. He loses a few points because he didn’t use auctioneer gibberish, which is cool, but was probably a good idea with all of the new people there, most of them would have got lost. I know there was at least 3-4 times when someone tried to bid lower than what the current price was at. You have to pay attention to these things. Anyway the part that I thought the auctioneer dropped the ball on was that he wasted too much time. Example: Everyone leaves one unit, and he says we will be starting the next location in about 30 minutes… everyone drives to the next place and we wait… for at least 45 minutes before he shows up, and then another 15-20 while he talks to people. If he had moved things along we could have been done with things much quicker. In fact we dropped out and headed home with two locations left as it was 5 pm and we were getting tired.
Next up on my Storage Auction adventures? I’m not sure, there is a series of auctions going on Down south this next Wednesday and I have the day off, but I’m not sure I can talk my dad into Driving that far for another one this soon, and there is no way he will go if it’s that cold again. Hopefully the next one I go to, I'll buy a unit and I can do a blog breaking down the whole process of digging through the unit and hauling it home!
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