As someone with some level of responsibility for a multi-family property, where you’re the owner, manager, or a property management company, you’re probably interested in finding ways to get the most out of your property, and one of the best ways to do this is to use parking space storage.
There are a lot of ways that you can ensure that you’re getting the most out of every square foot from your property, and the reason that we’re hyperfocused on how to get the most out of your parking area is that the parking area is the most likely area to not be making you any money.
Whether you’re a veteran landlord or property management company with tens or even hundreds of properties under your belt or you’re just getting into the rental market we’ll definitely have some tips for you that could help you increase the cash flow for your properties.
So, let’s take a look into your options so you optimize your return on investment for years to come. There are a lot of tricks of the trade that can be employed here and we won’t have time to get into all of them, but we can definitely look at some storage unit solutions.
Do Tennants Even Use Storage?
Let’s start with the basics. Will the storage units even be used? This is the first question that you probably had when you saw this article or when you first started considering installing tenant storage on your property.
It only makes sense. Adding storage units to your property isn’t free, and that makes it another investment on top of the property that you already invested in. You wouldn’t be able to get a return on investment if no one was going to use the storage units.
The short answer to this question is “probably,” and the longer answer is a little more involved. You see, there are a few types of tenants that you could possibly have and the types of tenants that you have would dictate if they’d be willing to pay for a storage unit. The most common tenant archetypes are:
- Soft Minimalists.
- We call this group “soft minimalists” because they’re the type that likes to only have the essentials, but they’d also like to have a little extra tucked away. This type is very likely to use your storage units.
- Hard Minimalists.
- Hard minimalists are the type that only like to have the essentials and that’s the end of the story. This group will be unlikely to use your storage units because they won’t have enough stuff to justify this.
- Spendy Non-Minimalists
- This group consists of people that aren’t minimalists, so they would have enough stuff to justify a storage unit, and they aren’t so tight-fisted with money that they would pass up on-site storage.
- Frugal Non-Minimalists
- In stark contrast to the last group, these people are very frugal. They may have both the resources and amount of stuff to justify the use of on-site storage, but they’d much rather keep their money than spend it on a storage unit.
As you can tell, about half of the archetypes would be willing to use your storage units. One might assume that that would mean that 50% of your tenants would be happy to use your storage units, but that could be false.
Of course, any tenant would generally be assumed to have a 50% chance of being someone that would use your storage units, but not each of these types is as common as the others. That can make things tricky, but it could work out in your favor.
Spendy non-minimalists are the most common type of tenant, they make up 40% of tenants. They’re followed directly by frugal non-minimalists, which make up 30%. Soft-minimalists make up about 25% and hard-minimalists take up that last 5%.
In the world of gambling, they’d call those pretty good odds. Instead of a 50% chance of any tenant being willing to use your storage units, it’s a lot closer to 65%. That’s a majority, and a majority is enough to get the cash flow you’re looking for.
Of course, if you’re really unlucky it could end up being that all of your tenants are of the remaining 35%. That’s not super likely, but if you’re worried that it could be the case you could always send something out to ask your tenants how interested they would be in on-site storage.
Why Install On-Site Storage
Now to the next most common question, why would someone bother with installing on-site storage? It can be pretty costly to get set up and it takes time. That time could end up hurting your tenants in the short run, and it could also make your parking lot less usable.
Well, there are a lot of reasons. It can vary from apartment complex to apartment complex, but let’s look at a few:
- Make your property more easily marketable.
- Properties that have on-site storage are able to advertise this extra amenity, which can draw some people in specifically to use it.
- Make use of space that isn’t being used.
- There are lots of properties that have unused space, and that unused space could be used for numerous other things.
- Make your property more eco-friendly.
- Not every kind of storage unit will make your property more eco-friendly, but if you do your research you can definitely find some that will.
- Increase your return on investment.
- We covered this at length in the last section, but you can definitely make your return on investment be a little higher this way.
These are just a few of the many reasons why people decide to install this kind of on-site storage. Every property is a little different, which can make it more than a little tricky to gauge the reasons why your property would benefit from this kind of thing. That being said, you’re probably aware of a few ways that on-site storage would be able to help.
How to Get the Most out of Your Storage Units
If you’ve already decided to get storage units and you’re still deciding what kind to get, you might want to know how to make sure you get the most bang for your buck. If you already have storage units installed, you probably also want to find the same thing. We’re going to be looking at tips for both kinds of people.
If you haven’t already gotten storage units installed, this list is for you:
- Shop around. There are high-quality units for less than some low-quality units.
- Do a lot of research. Some units are susceptible to thievery.
- Find units that work for your apartment complex.
- Choosing units that make your property look prettier never hurts.
- Make sure you do the math and find out how much you’ll need to charge to make the units a viable investment.
- Choose a good spot for the units.
And now for our list for people that already have units. This list could also come in handy for people that don’t have them yet:
- Make sure that you make your tenants aware of the availability of the units.
- Market the units to your tenants correctly. If they’re eco-friendly, let your tenants know. If they’re super secure, your tenants will also want to know that.
- Be open to adding more if the demand is high enough.
- Add extra security features such as cameras to ensure that the units are extra secure.
There are a lot of things that you could easily do before choosing the units, during the installation process, and after the units have been installed to make sure that the units work as well as possible for you, your tenants, and potential future tenants.
In fact, doing little things in the area where the storage units will be can make a huge amount of difference. For example, a flower or succulent garden, depending on where your property is, can beautify the area and make your tenants feel more welcome in the storage unit area.
Choosing the right units can help save you money as well as improve the return on investment and make your tenants feel more comfortable in general. Little things both in the choice of storage units and in the way you treat the space around the storage units can make a world of difference in the minds of your tenants, both present and future.
Getting the Most out of Storage for Your Property
There are a lot of options when it comes to selecting your storage units. Fortunately, this is a topic that happens to have a lot of information available on it. Whether you’re new to the rental market or you’ve been renting units out for years, the right storage units can change everything.
Choosing the right unit is key, but you can do that easily if you know the right companies to call. Fortunately, you can always make sure that storage units are a win-win for both your tenants and yourself.