What to Do Before You Move into Your New Home

What to Do Before You Move into Your New Home

Moving house is always an exciting experience, but it can also be the cause of great stress. Whether you hire a removalist or whether you are moving your furniture into self storage, you still need to plan carefully to make certain that your move is a smooth one.

With a little planning, there is no reason why moving day cannot be a fun time. After all, you are moving into a new location, there will be new friends to meet and new places to visit.

In the planning stage, the move can totally dominate your life. You have to plan your packing, work out where the furniture will be placed in your new house, and then arrange for your old place to be cleaned.

Faced with these many challenges it’s important to have a plan of attack so that moving day can be as efficient as possible. Let’s take a look at how to go about setting up a plan.

• Start your planning as many months in advance as you possibly can. This gives you time to choose a removalist by obtaining as many quotes as you can muster, and it also gives you the chance to keep costs under control.
• Start packing your least used items a few weeks in advance so that you aren’t left having to pack everything on the night before you move. This also gives you a good opportunity to think about where the furniture will be placed once you arrive in your new residence.
• Label your boxes according to where they will be unpacked. This means you will have to plan the layout of your new house and make sure the boxes for each room are labelled properly so it is easier to unpack at the other end.
• If time allows, have your new house properly cleaned before you move in. Don’t rely on the old tenants or owners doing this for you. Check with the agent and try to get access to the house at least a week before you move in so you can be sure it is spick and span. It is also a good time to think about replacing any worn or old floor coverings, especially carpets.
• Take advantage of any time delays by doing some touch up paintwork. If necessary, you can have the inside of the house completely repainted in the colours you like so that you when you move in, it will feel like new.
• For safety’s sake you might want to consider changing the locks in your new house. Do it all before you move in and it will be one less thing to worry about.

If you don’t have sufficient time to perform all the preparatory work before you move into your new house, you might want to move some of your furniture into self storage. This will give you sufficient time to get all the painting and redecorating done before you finally move in.

What’s a Collection?

What’s a Collection?

Your house is chock full of things and you’re being hounded by your wife or your parents or your kids to get rid of all your things! But is all that clutter really junk, or are you sitting on top of a mountain of items that can be classified and grouped together and showcased as a collection? A collection is defined as a group of items or things of one particular kind. And if you think that you may have a collection on your hands, you’ll be glad to know that collections are generally not seen as a hoard of useless items at all!

So how do you define what makes all these things a good collection worth the storage space it needs as opposed to a pile of odds and ends?

It seems like you have a lot of the same thing

It’s not quite a collection if they don’t all represent some similar idea across the board, or perhaps follow the same colour scheme or come from the same country. What makes these items form a collection could be something as simple as being made from a certain special material or different types of the same thing. After all, it’s not really a collection if the items are too random and don’t have a link to each other.

It doesn’t have to be useful items either; in fact, it can be a bunch of seashells you’ve picked up over the years, or even beanie baby stuffed toys! We’re sure you’ve seen Coca-cola bottle collections or a collection of snow globes or even a valuable collection of baseballe cards too! But of course the prettier the item, the more you’re going to want to show them off! And that leads us to the next point…

You have thought of or are already displaying some items

Maybe you’ve got all these dried up flowers in frames up on the wall. Or perhaps you’ve put up some shelving to keep your thimbles organized. We’ve heard of people who’ve got specially crafted cabinets to keep the humidity and heat out of your collection of Barbie dolls. But since a good collection almost always illicits some sort of wow factor when put together in the same place, why not display what you’ve collected!

It’s something that you’re passionate about!

Collections come and go, but the thing that makes a collection sustainable, is passion and longevity! Most collections start to look better when there are more and more of the item coming together in a group and while you need to stop eventually, don’t stop too soon! And if there is anything to motivate you, think about the thrill of the hunt – when you will have another unique piece to add to what you have. And certainly when you continue collecting, you’re sure to collect stories about the items too! That’s sure to make it all the more rewarding!

So don’t put off going through your clutter and have a look through your clutter and start sorting it out. Could be that it turns out that there are things that need to be thrown away but perhaps you’ve been secretly squirreling away pieces that are worth putting together to showcase to others. Maybe there are some collections waiting in your garage to begin a beautiful journey of collecting for you!

Using Self Storage As An Investment

Using Self Storage As An Investment

With the boom of the Self Storage industry in the last few decades, more and more investors have been looking at our industry with dollar signs in their eyes! It’s a simple premise, similar to the passive income model of renting out apartments or homes to earn a bit of money and a lot of people are jumping on board.

Now what exactly do you need to be looking at in order to make investing in Self Storage worth it for you?

1. Do you want to own a facility of your own or would you rather invest in a self-storage real estate investment trusts (REITs)?
   While the idea of owning a business of your own sounds like a swell idea, the road to riches with Self Storage is hardly so simple. As with any business, running it is a huge task on its own. There are a lot of day-to-day operations that need to be handled in addition to backend administration that needs to be handled by a capable manager. Some self storage facilities come as a franchise – meaning that there is a winning strategy behind the brand and it could be the difference in striking out on your own and trying to break in to an already saturated market.
   But if you don’t have the capital to purchase your own facility and/or hire the staff to run it, there are other options available to give you a slice of the pie. Take a look at some publicly traded self storage investment products available on the market to give you your self-storage investment fix.
2. Maximise the potential of your investment by starting with good base features
   There are options to (again) join a big conglomerate self storage brand and own a franchise so that you hit the ground running but if you’ve decided to run a Self Storage facility on your own, there are some things that you can do right from the bat to give yourself a headstart.
   Look at the location of your facility! The surroundings and the demographics of the area around where you intend to build – this could mean the difference of who’s going to store with you and also whether there are any competitors near you. You’ll also need to look at hiring well-trained professionals to handle operations in your facility – managers and day to day staff to help with move-ins and not forgetting a good security system!
3. Be patient
   Again, getting into self storage is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It will still require your hard work and attention for the first few months and probably years before it starts turning a profit. Pay attention to your sums and the accounts of your facility and also keep an eye out to the occupancy rates at your facility. Is there anything you can do to attract more people to store at your facility? Advertising and low rental rates play a part too!

Getting started in self storage is an exciting and fulfilling journey and because the model has been proven to work, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work for you too! But set some reasonable expectations for yourself and work hard at it! And don’t forget that there are always other options than going at it alone including taking out a franchise or looking at the publicly traded self storage investment assets on the market! Good luck and happy earning!

What Can You Use Self Storage Units For?

What Can You Use Self Storage Units For?

Self Storage units seem to be all about one thing – keeping things that you have no space for in your own home. However, is that really all self storage units are good for? After all, what self storage companies do is provide a space to people. It’s advertised in a way to give people ideas of what to keep within the four walls and security of the warehouses, but we’d like to show you that there’s more that you can do!

Keep Things

It would not be a self storage unit if you didn’t use it to (guess what?!) STORE THINGS! Yes! But besides the commonly kept clothes and books and documents, did you know that we have all sorts of other amazing things that have come through our hallways? We’ve had customers that have stored boats and vintage bikes and all sorts of interesting and rare items. In fact, a small handful of our units are being used to store vast collections too!

If you follow docu-dramas on the television, you may have heard of Storage Wars and Auction hunters. The premise of the show is that when people miss payments on their self storage units, the items within are auctioned away to the highest bidder after the grace period for late payments are up. Not to give away any spoilers to the show, but you’d really be shocked at what weird and fantastic things some people have kept in their self storage units!

Make-shift music studio

Our self storage unit spaces are also good for budding musicians. Generally in the self storage warehouse, we’ve got quiet surroundings as we rarely see customers coming by to pick up their items directly at our facility. The acoustics of a container are wonderful for holding a jam session or practice session with your friends so that you can get your group ready for a musical performance

Make-shift office space

For the same reason that the self storage unit makes a good music studio, it is true also for business owners too! if you have a small headcount or work as a sole proprietor of a business. The serenity helps you to concentrate on what you need to do with daily operations and it makes a perfect environment for doing work. Of course we would advise that you check with the self storage managers to allocate you to a quiet corner away from those budding musicians we were just talking about.

Exercise and Equipment Hold

There are a lot of community exercise groups springing up, least of all is the Cross Fit phenomenon that has groups of people congregating to egg each other on and keep exercising and staying fit. Many a times, these fitness groups combine their resources to take rent out on a space to exercise and also the exercise equipment and paraphernalia that they use (such as weight, medicine balls, mats, etc). The larger self storage units are perfect solutions to the dilemma of finding that exercise space for groups like these.

Super Cheap Self Storage Sydney doesn’t offer storage in fixed units, ours are portable units. Providing solutions for people in need of storage is what we do best.

The toughest storage job around: nuclear waste!

The toughest storage job around: nuclear waste!

People put things into storage for many reasons, usually it’s things we might want to see again or else why are we keeping it? Nuclear waste is not one of those things. It’s something we hope to never see again when we lock it away. For this reason very complicated steps are involved in the long term storage of such wastes. In most instances the intention is that these items will remain safely locked away for thousands of years.

On a small scale getting rid of something forever can be fairly simple. Just drop it into an icy crevice or a trench deep in the ocean. Many a treasure has been lost buried in unmarked holes or sealed deep in caves long forgotten and never to be seen again. Unfortunately for scientists the dangers presented simply by the presence of nuclear waste in open air or water or even buried securely far from human habitation are too great to be handled without the utmost caution. Nuclear waste presents an unprecedented scientific dilemma, since this radioactive material can remain dangerous long, long into the future, beyond perhaps even this era into a time when records may have been lost and warnings and locations of dangerous materials lost to the ravages of time.

The first approach scientists take in ensuring the highest security in radioactive waste storage is the careful design of incredibly long-lasting storage containers that sealed the material against even the most destructive of accidents. These storage containers or “casks” are made from the most sturdy of metals. Externally they are designed to withstand the most brutal punishment and tested to this effect. Even the earliest and most crude designs for containers built for the storage and transport of radioactive materials proved hardy enough to withstand the impact of a speeding diesel locomotive and still remain tightly sealed. This was 20 years ago and the technology has only improved.

Modern casks have multiple layers of protection for the dangerous material kept inside. Usually multiple layers of high-impact steel are separated by layers of concrete inches thick. The construction of the cask is usually so highly protective of its dangerous contents that be container itself is 5 to 10 times larger than the innermost storage compartment.

Safety is augmented by the suspension of radioactive material in glass. Wastes are mixed with molten glass before being form poured into the innermost storage container of the multi ton cask. This ensures that even if the cask itself cracked open in the most unlikely circumstances the dangerous radioactive material would still be stored in a solid form, unable to flow out of the broken cask.

Unfortunately public opinion is currently extremely negative on the issue of transporting radioactive material across borders for long-term secure storage. As a result the expense of casking radioactive waste is often not undertaken as temporary storage while less secure requires less space and expense. People do not realize in large numbers how much safer the transportation of radioactive waste is then to simply leave it in temporary storage at the location where it is generated. Eventually however the need to store permanently and therefore transport safely radioactive waste material will become undeniable – fortunately the tools to do so are readily at hand.

Top Tips On Moving Across Town

Top Tips On Moving Across Town

Moving across town is the most common move, and it can be quite easy. A bit of organization can save you a lot of money, time and hard labor. It can also make the move a lot more fun, and you can even use self storage as a “secret weapon” against disorganization. The fact is, moving across town can be a great opportunity to really improve your quality of life and your peace of mind.

Getting set up for a move across town

A combination of scheduling and basic tricks will get your move over almost before you know it’s happening.

Note: Your time frame for moving in starts from the day you get the key. At this point you can get quite a lot of things done before the big move.

Start with your scheduling:

• Give yourself a time frame of about a month at least to get set up before your move.
• Categorize your move into these areas:
• The heavy stuff that needs to be moved when you move. This can stay.
• The heavy stuff that may not be needed in the new place, or may be suitable for storage.
• Domestic materials (kitchen and bathroom, etc.)
• Personal tools like kids toys, sporting materials, gardening and home tools, etc.
• Appliances and electronics
• The easy to move and special materials that you can move simply with your own car or even as hand luggage. Anything like bric a brac, family heirlooms, clothes, the lightweight things that take up a lot of space during a move and seem to take to forever to find after you’ve moved.

These categories help you organize your move simply and keep these materials together for better organization.

Moving by stages

Start packing all the easy to move stuff first. Move that in the minute you’ve got the keys to the new place and have a chance to run it over there. This saves a lot more space for the actual move as well, and simplifies unloading.

portable storage units can be used for the domestic materials. Get a few big containers, preferably good strong heavy duty type, and progressively pack the domestic materials and personal tools.

Any difficult pieces that can’t be immediately placed in the new home should be put in storage until you’ve got things sorted out. This is actually quite cheap, and much easier to live with than the sort of tangle it’s possible to create trying to place pieces of furniture and other large objects right in the middle of moving.

Domestic materials and useful things like the bathroom and bedroom stuff should be packed separately (preferably in their own storage containers) so you can find them easily when you make the move.

The heavy furniture and other causes of major hard labor should be organized the day before movement into groups. That will help the movers handle them and organize loading.

Moving across town isn’t difficult. It’s as easy as you can make it for yourself.

Things You Need To Know About Self Storage

Things You Need To Know About Self Storage

What is up with the self storage industry these days? What are all these new services that are being added on and are they really of any use to me? In the good old days, people were absolutely contented with how their traditional self storage companies were serving them. Why did things have to go and change?

The “old school” of self storage used to be able to provide a pretty fantastic way of doing things, people were just interested in getting their things moved out into a safe and secure space and that is exactly what the big companies of the days of yore would provide. Now, self storage companies are starting to step it up and provide you lots of add-on services to make things that much simpler for you! We highlight them here…

Packing and Loading Services

Perhaps the biggest hassle with moving things into a self storage unit is having to lug things around, especially if you’ve got big and bulky items like an old refrigerator or even a worn out couch. Not everybody has the muscle power and headcount to carry all these things out of their house and to the storage warehouses, so self storage companies have gathered teams that are able to help you “move in” to your storage unit with their help!

Climate Control

Some items going into storage can be quite valuable. In our experience, we have customers that sometimes keep art and good quality wine in their storage units. Some people even keep their winter clothes or costumes inside the self storage units and are worried about what the weather and environment may do to their things if they were kept inside the unit for a long period of time. Climate Controlled units will be able to help regulate temperatures and will help to minimise if not eliminate the impact of humidity and microorganisms on the items within.

Insurance

Instead of having to source for external vendors for insurance some self storage companies have started underwriting their own insurance plans. This is so important for the worried self storage renter who wonders if his items will be safe, not only for the period of storage, but throughout the transit and loading to get their items there! Providing in-house insurance is a good way for self storage companies to put a seal of reliability on their brand and let people know that they take their responsibility over the items in their care seriously!

Portability

And best feature of it all, is that with Super Cheap Self Storage in Sydney, you no longer have to worry about making a long journey to the self storage facilities, braving traffic and unfamiliar terrain. These special companies have discovered the beauty of making things convenient for their customers and have undertaken the job of traveling themselves! It’s a great boon to all the customers who are short on time and are worried about how they’re going to get the right vehicle to make the trip with all their things! With this feature, you can make use of self storage units right from your doorstep!

And if you’ve thought that you’ve seen it all, we’ll have you know that the industry keeps evolving! Every day, the self storage companies are thinking up better ways to serve their customers and to bring the benefit self storage to average man in a simpler way. And Super Cheap Self Storage is no different! We offer the above at our facilities all across Australia and hope to make it easy for you to make use of our self storage services too!

Ten Reasons Why One Needs To Consider Self Storage

Ten Reasons Why One Needs To Consider Self Storage

More and more individuals and families are getting self storage. Gone are the days when self storage is equated to unnecessary spending. Nowadays, people realize the need for storage in their lives. Here are 10 of the many reasons why people get self storage:

1)    Limited space at home for regular daily items

If you have some items at home that you would need from time to time, even if these daily items, you might need to consider temporary self storage. Items like gardening tools, or even furniture that you would only use when family members are around, etc

2)    Temporary move

If you are required to move for work for only a few months, and you would like to have your current space rented out during that period, you might want to out your personal items in a self storage facility. These are items, which can include some clothing, that you don’t want leave at home while someone is renting it out.

3)    Traveling for extended period of time

Just like a temporary move, when you are traveling for an extended period of time, you might want to rent out your space in order to pay the rent or earn some money to pay for your travel.

4)     Downsizing your home

Most of the time, you would be discarding unused pieces of furniture but there are times that you would need these later on when circumstances at home would change like reinstalling these pieces of furniture if these still fit your current home design.

5)    Renovations at home

Definitely this requires temporary self storage while you are doing renovations at home. You can’t just leave the piece sod furniture lying around and accumulating dust. You might end up damaging these  too.

6)    Storage for bulky seasonal items

Winter clothes can be bulky and take a lot of space at home. Also, you only need these once a year, hence, it is best to make some space for your regular daily items and clothing and keep winter clothing or seasonal clothing in general Ina temporary self storage facility. If these only occupy a small space, you might want to consider getting mobile pod storage.

7)    Temporary movement of family members

When family members move in temporarily with you, you might want to increase your living space and this might involve storing temporary some pieces of furniture that you or they might not need during their stay.

8)    Offsite storage for valuable items

Family heirlooms and valuables that you will need to pass to generations would need self storage especially if these need some humidity and temperature control. Most self storage facilities offer such feature, thus, it pays to know what you need and ask the provider for such service.

9)    Storage of hobby items

Winter sports can take up some space and just like winter clothing, you will only need these one e a year. Thus, it is best to get some temporary storage for such seasonal items.

10)    Storage of recreational vehicles

Jet skis, fishing boats, canoes, etc. These are just a few recreational seasonal vehicles that take up a lot of space at home, thus, you can store in an accessible self storage facility when not in use.

Technology Advances in Modern Self Storage

Technology Advances in Modern Self Storage

Most people have a pretty strong preconceived notion of what self storage options are available. However these days there are many more options then ever before, and the concept of storage has changed radically from even a decade ago. Advances in technology have allowed self storage companies to become diverse and specialised. Options for storage that were unimaginable just a few years ago are now commonplace. Allowing consumers to store items they might not have considered appropriate for storage previously.

Below we will list a few of the modern advances in the self storage industry and how they are helping consumers think of storage in a whole new way.

Climate control

Climate control technology has advanced to the point where it is not only ecologically efficient but affordable for almost every self storage customer. Previous concepts of the storage unit which is blazing hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter are woefully out of date. With new electronic advancements in climate control your self storage unit can be kept not only at a constant temperature but also at a controlled level of humidity. This allows storage of delicate items which you might have never considered previously. And don’t have qualms about the impact on the environment, new technology has made self storage climate control even more efficient Then environmental systems used in homes and office buildings.

Security innovations

Advances in self storage security have accrued rapidly in the past few years. Long gone are the days of relying on sturdy chain and hefty padlock alone to guarantee the security of your storage unit. Modern storage facilities utilise numerous technically advanced security systems to guarantee the safety of their customers belongings. Video surveillance has always been a core component of storage site security but advances in technology have led to more widespread monitoring, while decreases in the expense of technology allows for a greater Investment in cameras and motion detection systems. While previously only a few key areas may have been monitored by video now it is affordable for almost every section of the facility to be kept under video surveillance.

While the keyless, keypad entry system as long than a standard of self storage modern systems allow for biometric identification, and or wireless access. Many sites also employ a two-tier verification system. Tying in a cell phone notification step before granting access with matching key card. Similar systems are in place for secure access to individual units, in addition to access to the overall facility.Such radical advances in security allow customers to store expensive and important items with a sense of total security.

Storage Automation

While it seems like something out of science-fiction a prevailing trend in modern self storage is a move toward robotic automation. Many modern storage facilities now rely on automated mechanical systems to retrieve and store storage containers of almost any size. From a car down to a shoebox many facilities now offer a service where a robot takes your items to be stored from a receiving area and places it gently and automatically in a secure warehouse far from human hands. The benefit to the customer – apart from the obvious security advantages – is being able to organise and deliver items to be stored to a single central location. Instead of having to wind your way through a maze of storage units and warehouse lockers, each customer now only has to visit one area and their storage unit is brought to them.

Storing a Hot Air Balloon

Storing a Hot Air Balloon

As a business owner, Mark Sindone oversees the majority of the day to day operations at the Inner West Sydney Super Cheap Self Storage facilities and also sometimes gets to personally work with the clients in settling the administrative procedures of settling into the storage units and also working through unique situations like one-of-a-kind items that need to find a protective space within the walls of the Super Cheap Self Storage plywood mobile storage unit.

One of the most memorable items that Mark has had the opportunity to keep and store was a big and bulky hot air balloon! It was an interesting discussion between him and the owner of the rather rare and unique item. The hot air balloon wasn’t owned by a company but rather by a man who happened to be an avid flyer and had used the hot air balloon himself on holiday weekends and day trips out in the country.

Mark was very intrigued by it and had a good conversation with the owner as to how to go about with the proper keeping and storage of the item. It worked out that since Super Cheap Self Storage’s main storage units were made of plywood, that a great amount of humidity and temperature control could be afforded for the materials that went into making the hot air balloon and that was the reason that the owner chose Super Cheap Self Storage to be the storage company to keep his precious balloon.

As luck would have it, the hot air balloon was slated for a pretty short term stay within the Super Cheap Self Storage facilities. The owner only needed to acquire a clean and safe place to store the balloon while he handled his own business in the meanwhile, after which he would come back to retrieve the balloon and take it back into his own possession. So because of the short tenure that was involved, Mark offered a free storage period in exchange for a chartered flight with the owner of the balloon – a fantastic opportunity to experience something that many do not have the chance to in their lifetime.

Alas, the owner gave a chuckle and pat Mark on the back and declared that as much as he would love to take him up on the offer of free storage, the balloon was out of commission for the time being and needed a fair bit of repairs to the damage in the fabric before it was air-worthy again. That was also partially the reason why he needed a good place to store his balloon – so that whatever damage and tears to the balloon could be minimalised during the period that he handled his business.

But not to worry, Mark says that after the owner received his hot air balloon back he was quite pleased with the service and standard of storage and was sure to let Mark know when the hot air balloon was ship-shape again – Mark is already looking forward to the day!

And that’s just one in many stories that you’ll hear about at the Super Cheap Self Storage facilities in Inner West Sydney!