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Messages - drbecker

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16
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Units that tell a story
« on: September 18, 2013, 12:20:01 PM »
Lots of them one in May, the Woman lost her job as a Nurse for charging time she did not work the Man was laid off from his mechanics job.  Found power bills over $6K, student loans that they had not made payment one on even when working her wages were being garnished.  They were evicted and homeless.  Over a hundred pairs of shoes in the locker mostly expensive sports shoes but all moldy or worn out.  Looked like even when they had money they did not pay bills for anything.  The story they did not pay any bills so why would they pay their locker rent.
I find eviction notices in most every locker sometimes many of them.  Always months behind on rent.  Most of them are on Welfare and most of the lockers have either Bongs or crack pipes in them.  Drugs are one of the biggest reasons near as I can tell.   

17
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Contacting the owners of lockers
« on: July 10, 2013, 02:36:05 PM »
I have done this once, I won a locker for $150 and turned out the under bidder was the boyfriend of the renter. He said all his clothes were in there she had moved him out.  Well I took his number and after sorting offered him the cloths for $50.  It was a whole truck load of clothes so a bargain to him. I gave him a photo album of his time in the military as well.  I figured if that had been given back with the personal items his GF would toss it.  I did not make any money on the locker there was nothing of any real value in it.

18
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: 4 degrees of seperation
« on: July 10, 2013, 02:31:21 PM »
I have bought 2 lockers from people I know and some other close connections.

One a big locker (10X 20) full of household stuff from a guy who had coached my sons baseball teams. He had a drug problem and lost everything. Found old pictures of the teams he had coached with my sons in them. Pictures of his daughter who my oldest son went to school with. The household stuff was dirty and worn little value I paid $400 cause it was a huge locker and I lost about that much on it. It was heartbreaking to me as it was obvious he was living in the locker for a while and I hear he is homeless and his son is having drug problems just like his dad.  The guy was a dead ringer for Randy Johnson about 6'10" and lean.

The other was a small locker full of misc that had been owned by a guy who ran a gun shop briefly. He got in trouble for not paying his bills and not paying off consignments.  I had frequented the shop when he was running it and know the gunsmith who he sublet from, he was over $10K in arrears on rent when he skipped and had borrowed money from the gunsmith to begin with.    He has people looking for him so he skipped to Alaska. It is not wise to steal from people who are well armed. It was a great locker lots  of ammo, holsters uniforms and badges and I only paid $30 for it.

In another locker I found a picture of one of my wife's cousins. No idea the connection but there he was.

Another locker I found an engineering notebook from 1959. In it was the name and phone number of someone I go to church with who had worked with the guy in 1959. 

19
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920625&slug=1498949

Here is a link to an old case. As I remember the guy who had rented the locker stuck his wife and kids in there after killing them. He was living in Idaho and his new wife stopped paying on the locker without telling him.
The wife had never been reported missing her family was told by him she had run off with the kids.

20
The auctions I go to take Credit or Debit cards.  So since I have cards with limits of $30K each it is not a problem with me. Now paying off the card me be an issue but buying the locker is not. I have seen a few people not pay and they are not allowed back period. Most people know how much they have to spend and do not go over it.  I try to not spend more then i have in cash but a couple times I have used debit cards never credit.

21
A couple of times I have found something good in the sweep out so I always sweep.  I am talking coins and rings things like that which have fallen out of boxes. Best finds are gold rings and small knives several times.

22
I have seen as many as 5 or 6 locks cut in the same locker. Not normally a good sign my experience is most of the lockers with many cut locks have been gone through and the best stuff taken out. Not always but often.

23
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Storage Lockers and Big Dump Fees
« on: January 10, 2013, 03:09:21 PM »
Over $200 at the dump for a 10 x 40 full of junk.  My worst laocker ever. I rarely get by with less then $20 but the new minimum this year is $22 so that is what I figure to add per load of trash I can see. 

24
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Dusty lockers with grandma's goodies
« on: January 10, 2013, 03:04:39 PM »
Got on in January 2012 that had been rented in 1982 so 30 years. Had not been touched since rented the guy moved to CA and left stuff here.  He died 8 years ago and his girlfriend kept paying till she died late 2011. Was very good locker, high end fisihing gear, a belt with silver and gold buckle lots of neat things.  Paid $275 made at least 3 times that and still have the neatest stuff left. Got one in the summer that had been in st0rage 24 years adn it was a total bust. Find a lot that have been rented more then 10 or 15 years.  Not always any good but the potential is there.

25
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: What's your worst score ?
« on: December 03, 2012, 07:14:56 PM »
Well I have lost more money on a locker then this one but my worst was a 10X40.  Turned out to be someones dump.  They were buying lockers and throwing the crap in this one.  Paid $40 took me a whole day to clean out there were 20 mattresses and I only saw about half of them when bidding.  I got nothing out of it not even any scrap cords were cut on the few lamps in it. I found personals from 4 different lockers and cut locks as well. To put the icing on the cake the locker had flooded and some of the mattresses were wet as were some bags of clothes.  Cost only $200 at the dump but a whole day wasted.  I have lost $400 or $500 on a locker before but I still consider that one my worst not a thing worth keeping at all.

26
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: What's your biggest score?
« on: November 28, 2012, 01:08:12 AM »
Best A big locker full of junk/trash for $50. Found $4350 cash plus a few hundred in goods. A hoarder he kept one dollar bills and change were over $2500 in ones alone.

Second best a lock from a guy who used to own a gun store. Paid $30 Got about $500 worth of ammo alone still selling holsters and I have kept some cool items like a firefighters coat and badge. Looked like it had been gone through but it had not. Just messy.  I know the guy and also know that a lot of people are still mad at him after he stole the money from their consignment guns.  He is not in the state anymore. Easy made a $1000 on that locker already.

Close tie a locker full of what looked like old stuff for $700,  a Sterling tea set 70 ounces of Sterling.  About $500 in other stuff.

Worst a 10X30 full of junk spent $40 on the locker $200 at the dump and got nothing out of it. Was a dump the #1 move in special loaded with trash and abandoned oh it had flooded as well.

Have to mention the worst so all the Newbies do not expect to find treasure in every unit. I have done well over a 100 lockers now and 3 really great ones a dozen okay and a lot of bad ones.

27
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Auction Scene #10...October, 2012
« on: October 18, 2012, 07:28:41 PM »
I did auctions at the big Public Storage MLK site over 2800 units.  They sold 18. I really wanted the first one but could not get it. It was a 10 X20 looked like a household from the 40s from the furniture and what was showing which included a gun cleaning kit some antique looking furniture. Went for $1700 I bid $1650 think it was to high when it topped $1000. Ended up with a 5X10 looked old lot of stuff poorly packed for a $120.  Got it cleaned out but not sorted.  I found a 14K bracelet kind of in the top of a box like it was dropped in accidentally it was broken. Weighs right about 15.5 grams gold value over $500 should get $400 to $450 for scrap..  It will be a great locker I saw an easy couple hundred dollars of other stuff with no real sorting. Going to hit another run tomorrow. Crowd was about 30 and I saw lockers going for way more then they should have and some reasonable ones as well. The one I bought would have been a $20 to $50 locker before the unreality shows started.

28
Online Storage Auctions / Re: Online Storage Auction Websites
« on: September 30, 2012, 09:22:25 PM »
If not being on site causes you to overbid, then you're better off skipping the day of work, it'll be cheaper in the long run.

Well since a day at works is worth more then $300 to me if I overpay a bit but would have held back in person it would not be a big deal. 

29
Online Storage Auctions / Re: Online Storage Auction Websites
« on: September 28, 2012, 10:24:20 AM »
I for one would like to be able to try the online auctions but there are none in the Puget sound region yet.  I think it would be good for someone like me who works full time and does the lockers as a hobby lead into retirement income type of thing.  I can not spend more then one day a month actually going to auctions. It would be nice to be able to pick them up online.  So any prospects of the lockers in Western Washington?   

30
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Saw my first truly staged unit today
« on: September 28, 2012, 09:39:37 AM »
Somebody trying to cash in.  I have heard of several such attempts here in the Puget Sound region.  Several  lockers that appeared to be full of nice antique furniture and sold for several thousand dollars each. Well all the furniture has major issues which are hidden from view and was worthless.  The renter was determined to be the same guy and a known shyster, he was confronted by one of the buyers and the buyer demanded his money back and got it.  The threat was a severe beating. Enough said as much as the guy deserved a beating it is not worth going to jail over. it appears to have stopped for now but with state law requiring the renter get any amount over what is owed this may continue to happen just not as obvious. It would be easy to stage a unit to look great when all it had in it was junk. Boxes labelled as stated in the OP are a big clue something is wrong.

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