Noob question of the day.

I've been doing my research for storage unit auctions and such.

1) Is it normal for a storage facility to list the contents in the paper?

2) Is it normal for the facility to also bid on the units?

My concern is that many of these places may be cherry picking the goods when they are doing inspections in the case of #1 question.  My second concern is them bidding in the auctions.  While most bidders get only a few quick looks or maybe even up to 5 mins to look at a unit, they could of had days.  So they know which to bid on and which not to.  Or, they just run up the price to increase profit.


example:
The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes, and appliances.
103 - Gwendolyn Bennett- Books, Tv’s, furniture
289 - Leroy Mcmath - Desks and tapes
687 - John Mains - Books
688 - John Mains - Books
Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the time of sale. All goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase. Extra Space Storage reserves the right to bid. Sale is subject to adjournment.

1. For my area, and many others, this is the usual case. Some may be cherry picking, but for hte most part it is just a general observation of what they see at the door.

2. In my area I have not seen this yet, I would stay away from facilities who practice this, seems to me they are just trying to drive the price up on the locker.

1. Yes it is common, but not manditory for the facility to list the inventory. I believe some facilities do this in hopes of creating more interest and higher bidding.

2. It may depend on the lien laws in your state, but the way I understand the law in my state is the owner can take possesion of the contents and dispose of them however they wish once they have fulfilled thier legal obligations. So if a facility owner bids on his or her own units at auction in my state that is a red flag to stay away from that facility. They are probably trying to run up the bidding. I have seen auctioneers bid on units, whether or not they know what is in the units is a big question. I have never seen them go after an obviously great unit, usually the marginal units that are going pretty cheap so they know it's probably a good buy.

As far as storage facilities that cherry pick the good stuff out of units, you will find out about these places fairly quickly once you get on the auction trail. Just hang around the regulars and you will hear about the facilities they stay away from, and as you start going to different auctions make a mental note of the auctions that never seem to have the regulars show up. that is a good indication that those units have been picked of the good stuff.

Well it seems to be hit and miss from looking at the ads.  One company has it on all of the ads.  Two other companies don't.  Some list contents by the unit # and name.  Others just say "everything inside" and the other does a generic list at the top of the page.

ex:
The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes, and appliances.
Unit #; Name


Guess I'll just have to hit a few as work permits and watch and learn.

Some do some don't!!