Find Storage Unit Auctions - The Modern Day Gold Rush!

You are reading this lense because you want to learn how to find storage unit auctions, and that is a good thing. It is a good second income option for millions of Americans because of the growth of the storage unit business. Since 1995 there has been an increase of 65% of households that rent storage units. In 1995 there was only 1 out of every 17 households acquiring storage units, today there are an amazing 1 out of 10 ! This number is likely to grow and the entrepeneurs who want to profit on storage unit auctions is likely to explode if reality shows like "Auction Wars" and "Auction Hunters" continue to air on tv!

When I first started to explore how to find storage unit auctions I discovered a special "search operator" that is unique to Google. Here is what I do to find storage unit auctions. Let's say you live in Kansas City, Missouri, and you want to find storage auctions so you can explode your Ebay or Craigslist business. This is what you need to do...
1. Go to Google's search page.
2. Type in the search box the following command..."allintitle:kansas city storage unit auctions" (without the quotes"
3. Press the search button and begin sifting through the results.
You'll notice that there are 4800 results which means there are 4800 pages that have those words in the title. You immediately find the main websites of several auctioneers in the Kansas City area that are doing storage unit auctions. I did another search using "allintitle: kansas storage unit auction" and I received 583 results. This works for any city or community in the world. I've been using the allintitle search operator for several years and it is a tool that is very helpful and is exclusive to Google. You can use this search operator for any topic that you so desire but we're focused on storage unit auctions and this method should help you find some auctions near you!

Another reliable but more tedious method of finding storage unit auctions is to search the classified ad section of your local newspaper. One of the drawbacks to this method is that you might need to acquire several newspapers to supply the information you are looking for in the area you plan to auction hunt. These auctions may be hidden in larger ads that are under the auctions/public notices section. Usually storage unit auctions must be announced in the newspaper. I still believe the best technique for locating these auctions is to use the allintitle search operator in Google but this method will work if you have access to the newspaper and the time to peruse the auction sections. It's amazing how many of these auctions are occuring all over the country. There are a lot of people in transition because of job change, job loss or a family breakup. These folks often try to find somewhere to stash their property until they have a permanent residence and thus the need for storage units. Check the classified ads for these opportunities and check newspapers of cities nearby.

This is an old school method but it works and can pay some additional dividends if you happen to locate the right storage unit manager. Go to your local phone book Yellow Pages and write down the number of every storage facility listed. Call each storage facility and ask if they have an auction scheduled. If they have auctions scheduled they will glady tell you. Next, ask to have your name added to their email notification list. You can also ask if there are any delinquet storage units that they would consider selling the contents to you. That's right, not all storage unit owners sell through auctions. You might just hit the jack pot by being audacious enough to ask the bold questions. Give it a try, you might beat your competition to the mother load!

Once you have found a good auction you should make sure you make personal contact with the owner or manager of the storage facility to have your name added to their notification list or email newsletter. Storage unit managers are very eager to keep you informed of future auctions. The same advice applies to auction companies, they are more than anxious to keep you abreast of their next sale. Remember, the auction hunter is an asset to the storage unit owners and the auctioneers. Your only competition are those who will bid against you.

Storage unit auctions provide storage unit owners the opportunity to recoup lost rent from folks who quit payinig storage rental and abandoned the contents of the unit. There are three primary types of storage auctions and each one is based on the bidding process. Here they are...
1. Live bid auctions - Bidders receive 1 to 5 minutes to visually inspect the unit contents then the auctioneer starts live bidding.
2. Blind bid auctions - As the name implies the bidders do not see the contents of the unit but simply make bids and they highest bid wins. The winner is the only person who ever sees the unit contents.
3. Sealed bid auctions - The owner gives bidders a specified amount of time to examine the unit contents and the bidder submits a sealed bid. The winner receives notification and then comes to retrieve the unit contents.
As you can see the blind bid presents the most risk with the sealed bid giving the safest approach to the business. But remember, the higher the risk the better the chance of hitting a grandslam in the storage unit auction game.