In this guide on becoming a storage auction buyer, I will go over some very important tips on how to be a storage hunter and make money. You have probably seen shows like Storage Wars on A&E or Storage Hunters on TruTV and wondered if you too could bid on abandoned storage lockers and make money flipping storage units. You can make money storage hunting but you need to know that it’s harder to make money flipping storage units than TV makes it look.
Beginners Guide to Storage Hunting
First of all, the storage hunter shows on TV are not entirely realistic (yes the fighting scenes are fake). While the cash register values calculated by the storage buyers sound good in theory, they have yet to sell at that price. The value of any unit is only what YOU can sell it for. The listed price or estimated value does not matter, only the price that you end up selling the items from the winning storage unit for.
You can make money storage hunting but you have to be disciplined.
Some storage auction bidders have connections with antique or consignment shops. Others know specialty dealers or sell directly online at Ebay. And a few own their own consignment shops where they sell directly to the public. Any way you do it, it’s really good to have connections with resellers where you can take your won items and flip them for fast cash. You don’t want to buy storage units to hold on to the stuff you win and wait for the perfect buyer at the highest price.
Another non-glamorous side of winning storage unit auctions is actually getting rid of all the stuff. There’s a lot of junk and a lot of trash in storage lockers besides the valuable hidden treasures you see on TV. Once you buy a storage unit, you own everything inside it and you have to remove it very soon thereafter (how long you have to clean it out depends on the storage company) so you must be able to get rid of everything in the storage unit immediately.
So before you start storage hunting, you must 1) find a place to sell what you won easily and quickly and 2) find a way to haul all the junk and hidden treasures you won.
Now that we have those two important storage hunter tips down, let’s talk about basic tips to becoming a storage auction buyer and then review going into business as a storage hunter.
To find storage unit auctions in your city and state, call around to the local storage places (or visit in person – you get better responses this way) and ask if they know of the storage locker auction circuit in your region and state. Storage auctions won’t always be available in your city so take into account you may have to travel if you want to make a living flipping storage lockers.
The good news is big cities like Dallas, New York, San Jose, Los Angeles, Jacksonville, Houston, Chicago, San Antonio, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Indianapolis, Detroit, Fort Worth, and Charlotte all have several storage facilities (like Public Storage, Extra Space, Self Storage, etc.) so you’ll have a good chance of finding a few storage auctions on the weekend.
Tips For Buying and Bidding on Storage Units
You first need some capital to buy storage units. If you don’t have enough money to buy storage auctions, try forming a partnership with someone you trust and splitting the profits 50/50. I recommend you have a $1,500 to start as a storage auction beginner.
Before you ever start bidding on storage units, I highly recommend you go to 5 or 10 storage auctions and just spend some time there getting a feel for the scene and what type of money people are spending on abandoned storage units. Don’t bid at these, just watch how things work, get to know the storage auctioneer, talk to the storage unit managers, ask questions, find out if you really want to be in the storage hunter business.
When you’re ready to start buying storage lockers, know exactly how much you’re willing to spend (have a budget set for the day) and stick to that plan no matter what. The strategy behind your budget is how much can you afford to risk. Buying expired storage units is a gamble. Yes, you might find a box full of old baseball cards or valuable antique furniture but you also might get a pile of junk worth nothing so remember it’s always a gamble to bid on storage units.
When you’re actually bidding on storage units, don’t let emotion or personality get involved. Get a maximum price you are willing to pay in your head and don’t bid over that price no matter what. Also, play it cool if you spot a storage locker you really want. Don’t act on pins and needles even if you are. Just bid and act indifferent to whether you win or lose.
Another tip is not to bid on items you don’t know about. If you don’t know how valuable a painting is or have an idea of what it’s worth, stay away from it. Only bid on storage units where you have a good idea of approximately how much the stuff inside (that you can see is worth). For example, say you can see a four wheeler inside the storage unit. If you have no clue what it’s worth, don’t bid $4,000 on it even if everyone is saying what a steal it is.
One more piece of advice is to stay away from items that need a lot of repairs or are broken.
Whether you go into storage hunting as a hobby or a business, you also need to account for your time and expenses. It’s not enough to flip a storage unit you bought for $500 for $1,500. You also have to deduct the time you spent at the auction, driving to the auction, cleaning out the storage locker, and selling the items in the storage unit. Besides that, how much did you spend on gas to get to the auction? How much money did you spend on hauling the junk? What other expenses did you have? It’s not just about $1,000 profit on the storage unit. It’s about the net profit after all your expenses are calculated.
10 Quick Tips For Storage Hunting
1. It’s helpful to own a large truck
2. Storage lockers in high income areas are typically worth more
3. Stay away from pack rat type of lockers
4. Carry a phone with Internet access for quick lookups on pricing items
5. Always know how you’re going to haul away the stuff inside the unit
6. Living in large population states like California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Arizona are advantageous because they have a lot of storage units
7. Bring a flash light to look in corners
8. Leave emotion at home
9. Don’t shop for yourself, you’re buying to flip and flip only
10. The goal is to make money and make money only, never forget that
Sometimes you will take a loss but hopefully those losses are very rare.
TT-Timber.com – Guide to Making Money Storage Hunting and Flipping Storage Units at Auctions