If you’ve been thinking of new and exciting ways to improve the cash flow from your multi-family property, there’s a good chance that you’ve considered installing some onsite storage solutions for your tenants to rent from you, for a nominal fee, of course. Just like anything else, installing these storage units is an investment. With any investment, you want to make sure that you’re getting the highest return on investment possible. One of the best ways to do that is to make sure that your startup cost is as low as possible.
The big question here is if cutting costs means that you need to cut corners on storage unit quality. Most landowners would prefer not to give their tenants subpar storage units, if only for the reason that most people can tell just by looking if a storage unit isn’t up to snuff. How could one go about getting a group of great, high-quality storage units without it dramatically increasing their startup cost by a lot? While we’re at it, do more expensive units actually mean higher quality units? We went ahead and did some digging so you don’t have to, so let’s dive right in.
How Much Quality is Worth the Price?
It’s hard to see the relationship between quality and price in some circumstances, and storage units can definitely fit well within that category. Most people assume that if you spend more money on something that it will automatically be better, but you could also just be getting scammed into buying something that’s lower quality at a higher price. Here is where we look at quality, quantity, and cost per unit. All of these factors are incredibly important when deciding if you want to go with a specific storage unit.
Now, generally speaking, when it comes to things like security you do want to be ready to drop a decent amount of cash on it to be sure that it’s going to be worth it. Buy something too cheap and you could risk it falling apart on you. On the other side of things, there are companies that are willing to upcharge you for things that aren’t worth it. For example, they could use inferior quality materials for the actual unit and give you a standard Masterlock to secure it shut. Masterlock might have a reputation among those that aren’t in the security field as being something that’s good, but a talented lock pick could open even the most advanced Masterlock in seconds.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are companies that will give you a lot of bang for your buck by thinking about how to cut back on material costs while not sacrificing any quality. For example, there are some companies that use a wire mesh for their storage units. This mesh is cut-resistant and incredibly secure while also costing a lot less than it would for a solid sheet of metal to be used for this.
Research is Your Friend
Before buying your rental property, there’s a good chance that you did a lot of research. You wanted to know what the property taxes would look like, if each unit is individually metered, what kind of public transit is nearby, how many schools are nearby, what the rent is in that area, the list goes on. You probably even do a great deal of research before purchasing a new car, and it’s only smart to do so. You want to make sure that when you’re sinking a lot of money into something that it’s going to be worth it.
Some of our more thrifty readers might be even more hesitant to part with their cash, doing research even on smaller purchases to make sure that their money is going to good places. Some people even go so far as to never eat out or treat themselves, which we find a little extreme but whatever floats one’s boat. In any case, no matter how tight or loose-fisted you are with your cash, there’s a good chance that you’re doing the research before dropping too much on a project. It’s only a logical thing to do.
When you’re in the process of adding storage units to your apartment complex it should be no exception. You’re making an investment and you want to make sure that you’re going to get your money’s worth. Odds are, this isn’t an investment that you’ll be able to get done for less than a few thousand dollars. The sheer amount of materials and labor that goes into this kind of installation makes it challenging to get something that’s good enough quality to please your tenants without spending at least a few grand on it. That being said, no matter how you are with money, you want to do your research.
As we said, there are companies that would be happy to pass you off an inferior product for a heavily marked-up price. Their goal is the same as yours, cut down the overhead to maximize the return on investment. With that in mind, there are also some companies that make these storage lockers that want to make sure that anything with their name attached to it is high-quality, but they also want to make sure that they have affordable products so that they can also make the most return on investment.
The tricky thing here is that these two companies can look identical from the outside without any research. Both companies claim to have a good product, both companies have a pricetag that feels reasonable for the price, but only one of these companies cares about you as a customer. The only way to tell these two companies apart is to do your homework and make sure that the product that they’re trying to sell you is actually as good as it seems to be. There are a lot of different ways that you can go about this.
The easiest, and probably most common way to go about this is to simply ask for a demonstration. The company will probably send a salesperson out with a sample product for you to look over and ask questions for, if available. If not, the salesperson will answer questions over the phone. You’ll want to ask what the unit is made of, if they provide a lock, what kind of warranties are available on the lockers, and maybe a few questions about the company itself like how long they’ve been in business or what kind of expertise does the company have in this particular field.
Is the Extra Work to Make Sure You Get a Good Product Worth It?
They say that time is money, and that’s true. The article that you’re reading right now even took both time and money to get written. With that being said, it does take time to make sure that you’re getting a solid product at a price that works out well for both you and the company that’s selling you the lockers. Is it worth all of the time and effort that you have to pour into doing this research for the most part?
We have to say that it is because, at the end of the day, if you get an inferior product you’ll have to replace or repair it after a shorter amount of time. While time is money, money is also money, and replacing or repairing your storage units can be pretty pricey. With that in mind, you could value your time more than money and would prefer to drop a little extra money on something that you’ll know is high-quality so you don’t have to spend time looking through all of the information and grilling salespeople to get your answers.
It’s really important, though, if you plan on getting a cheaper storage unit to do as much research as possible. You might save a few hundred bucks on a cheaper storage unit, but if that unit breaks in half the time that the slightly more expensive one does, is it really worth the savings? More so, are you really saving any money if you need to pay the company to come to make repairs or even replace the units altogether? These questions are of the utmost importance when it comes to deciding which storage lockers will be best for your complex.
Getting What’s Best For You
Installing storage lockers on your property is always going to be a process. Fortunately, you can take your time with this project in most cases. Taking your time and doing your research is really the best way to be sure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck and not ending up with an expensive pile of trash. There are plenty of companies out there that can give you high-quality storage lockers at a price that works for everyone involved, it’s just a matter of determining which companies are on your side and which ones only want to deepen their pockets.
