How do YOU find auctions?

I was wondering how all of you find out when and where auctions are being held?

I have been to a couple of sites, but not too much info out there.

Do you call each facility individually? I can imagine that some managers at these sites get fed up with tons of people calling every day.

I read that you can find them in the news paper, but I haven't had much luck with that.

There are several ways. The way I do it though is subscribe to a service that provides me with about 90% of what is going on in my area. The other 10% I call once a month to see when there next auction is and how many will be in auction.

Other ways:
1. Calling the facilities
2. Subscription Service
3. Storage Facility Websites
4. Local Newspaper(s)
5. Thrifty Nickel (or the like)
6. Auctioneers Website
7. Subscription to a Service
8. CraigsList (very few will be there, but worth looking into)

Mostly I use the local classifieds. Every now and then I use auctionzip as well, but those auctions are usually swamped with people.

I work a full time job that requires 60 hours a week generally so for me I have precious little research time so I subscribe to Drew's list and find he does a great job with it. If your in the atlanta area check it out (or better yet don't check it out. less competition that way ----sorry Drew----LOL). Autionzip is ok but I'd suggest getting to know the auctioneers and getting on their mailing lists. Then there are the local legal ads that you can research thru but again thats time consuming. I've found that between Drews list, auctionzip and three auctioneers I have PLENTY of auctions to chose from.

Auctionzip sucks. You will most likely be able to find the major auctions...the U-Haul, Public Storage and a handful of others but your missing 80% of the auctions if you rely on Auctionzip entirely. I can name about 8 storage auction listing services that are worth subscribing to and the national services aren't one of them.

I don't recommend calling the facilities if you live in an area with a population over 400,000. If you live in a smaller area, it's your best bet.

I don't recommend calling the facilities if you live in an area with a population over 400,000. If you live in a smaller area, it's your best bet.

Tclane, I just have to ask why you recommend not calling when you live in an area of over 400K pop. I live in San Antonio, and there is more than that, I got my better units this way.

Im done with hitting the email blast auctions by auctioneers. Everyone knows, everyone goes. Nah. Not me. Im all about calling. My gut tells ME its right. But that's me telling ME. me no tell YOU what to do. Good luck! 

Pretty much all of the above ideas are the best ways. Of course if you live in Atlanta, Tennessee, central Florida, Miami my lists!!!

Sometimes they are listed on craiglist under parking and storage.

Tclane, I just have to ask why you recommend not calling when you live in an area of over 400K pop. I live in San Antonio, and there is more than that, I got my better units this way.

The average city with a population of 400K has a has 100-150 storage facilities within a 30 mile radius. In my opinion, 150 phone calls twice a month is reasonable for the average person. If you get into areas like Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. it's just not practical. Subscribe to a service.

For example: I just finished the auction list in the Dallas Fort worth area. There are roughly 1100 storage facilities that need to be called twice per month. On average, it takes 6 - 8 hour days to accomplish this task. What auction buyer is going to invest a week every month to getting their information? It just isn't practical.

As far as getting better units from the less publicized auction, I totally agree that you can get better deals at auctions with fewer people in attendance. Heck, I founded my companies on this principle.