Depending on where you live there may be any number of auctions happening on any given day. There are many places you can look to find them. Newspapers, the internet, word of mouth, or simply calling the self storage facility you want to know about are all good ideas.
Legal Pending Auctions Being Advertised
In the newspaper you’ll look in the classified section under public notices or something along those lines. The contents of these units are considered abandoned property and are auctioned off because the law says that they have to be. People can’t just go selling other people’s stuff without following certain guidelines – which is as it should be, right? Usually, a customer at the storage facility will have a certain amount of time to pay up, and if they don’t then the auction date and time is posted. They generally have until the auction begins to pay for their unit.
– I’ve seen facilities hold up the auction to give customers an opportunity to pay, so don’t be surprised to arrive at the site only to be told that the auction has been cancelled. This is why it’s always a good idea to call the facility sometime during the 24 hours before the auction, and if you can do it the morning of the auction, that is best.
Looking on the Internet
If you google “storage auctions”, or “storage auctions by your location”, you will find the facilities that are holding auctions. The information is often limited to an address and phone number, so you will need to call the facility so you can get more information.
Do-it-yourself-er
If you’re more of a do-it-yourself-er then you can simply grab your local phone book every month and call all of the listed storage facilities in your area. They will tell you when their next scheduled auction is. This is how we first started and if you don’t mind spending a couple of hours every month on the phone it is a good way to get the information. You can also use this method if you are going to an auction outside of your local area.
– If possible, it is helpful to create a database in a program such as Microsoft Excel so you have the phone numbers readily available for next month.
– Another added benefit to making personal calls is that often the storage facilities have their own private lists of buyers. They will add you to their list and then you will get information about facilities that use their own auctioneers and don’t subscribe to a list. It’s like being on a VIP list! You also want to look up local auctioneers to get on their mailing lists. This won’t give you complete info on all the local auctions, but it will tell you all the auctions being held by that specific auctioneer or company. You can find out who these auctioneers are by google’ing “your location storage unit auctions”. Or, you can call the storage companies and ask them who they use.
Moving Companies Which Maintain Storage Units
PODS are an example of this. Some U-Haul companies rent storage space as well so it is good to check with them too.