In the US, about 20% of the population pays rent for a storage unit of some sort. People store all sorts of things in storage units, from furniture that doesn’t fit in their current home to collectibles, personal items, and items that other people might categorize as “junk.”
How to Buy Abandoned Storage Units and What to Expect
However, a storage unit is a rental property, and if you don’t pay your rent, the facility typically has the right to auction off your belongings when they close the unit. This saves them the time and effort of cleaning the unit and provides a little extra revenue. Storage unit auctions are actually a bit of a booming sideline for storage facilities—with an estimated 155,000 auctions held each year, storage companies rake in about $65 million through auctions.
If you’ve ever watched Storage Wars or similar shows on TV, you know that anyone can bid on an abandoned storage unit. It’s a lot easier than you think, and there are many reasons why you might want to.
Why spend time and money bidding on someone’s abandoned junk? There are a lot of reasons:
