Top 20 US Cities for Self-Storage Auctions

Just came across this study which lists the top 20 US cities for storage auctions. Before you decide to sell the ranch and relocate, this study was based on the number of auctions a town had in 2013 compared to it's population.

http://blog.sparefoot.com/7329-top-cities-for-storage-auctions/


So, what's your opinion of this? Do you think the data is reliable? What factors could have influenced the results?

The majority of them seem to be in retirement destinations. The reason for the higher volume could be due to elderly people dying off and no one knowing about the storage units left behind.

# 3 Ocala, FL is about 50 miles from me.  I've not shopped there (I can hit 5 – 10 a month within 35 miles) but I may give it a try. 

Skewed info – that population given is inside the city limits of Ocala.  Less than half of the auctions advertised are within that political boundary.  The metropolitan and suburban area around Ocala has more population than the City.

More important than the number of auctions is the number of units – much more difficult to gather data on.

I have attended auctions in the closest large metropolis.  A number of chains with multiple facilities.  Some chains list all of their auction locations in one legal ad.  Others list each auction location in a separate legal ad.  There is often more than one chain offering auctions on the same day..  Not sure how SUAL handles that info, I don't use their website. 

In my opinion, this data is flawed at best. Saying one city is better than another is pure speculation.

1. Storage Unit Auction List doesn't have an accurate total for the amount of auctions which occurred nationwide. No storage auction website does.

2. The study doesn't take unit count into consideration. Here's a hypothetical: Let's say town A and town B have an equal population, but town A has 1 more storage auction a year. Using their measurement, town B could sell more units than town A, but town A would still be considered better. Doesn't make any sense.

its basically click bait with no real info

NYC has 17M ish residents and probably has close to 3k+ rooms go up a year.
Long Island has around 600+ rooms a year

If you look in brooklyn there are multiple facilities each month that have at least 30-40 rooms each. 

I would be interested in knowing which area has the most rooms go up a year but I'm fairly certain it would just be the largest cities in descending order

I would be interested in knowing which area has the most rooms go up a year but I'm fairly certain it would just be the largest cities in descending order

From the data I have, you're right. The Houston area had around 25K units go to auction in 2013 and it has a population of 2.2 million . I think I made a post about it here on the forum a few months ago...which is probably where they they got the idea for this linkbait. 

My guess is that LA, Dallas/Fort Worth, & Houston are the top contenders & NY (when you factor in all of the cities within a 50 mile radius.) Then, Chicago, Philadelphia.

Over 1700 units were advertised for auction in the DFW area LAST WEEK ALONE. As a buyer, considering the amount of auctions, the low cost of living/overhead and the booming resale market, I'd say the DFW area is the best place on earth a storage unit buyer/reseller could be.

From the data I have, you're right. The Houston area had around 25K units go to auction in 2013 and it has a population of 2.2 million . I think I made a post about it here on the forum a few months ago...which is probably where they they got the idea for this linkbait. 

My guess is that LA, Dallas/Fort Worth, & Houston are the top contenders & NY (when you factor in all of the cities within a 50 mile radius.) Then, Chicago, Philadelphia.

Over 1700 units were advertised for auction in the DFW area LAST WEEK ALONE. As a buyer, considering the amount of auctions, the low cost of living/overhead and the booming resale market, I'd say the DFW area is the best place on earth a storage unit buyer/reseller could be.

thats a ridiculous amount of rooms to go up in one week.  NYC obviously has a lot more people than 2.2 but I think when you factor in the cost of real estate and work that into the equation, high populations, with relatively low costs for storage facilities = 1,700 a week.  Thats the place to be.

As a professional storage unit buyer, you want to be where the action is.

The only way to truly determine the top U.S. cities for self-storage auctions would be to compare the number of units for sale and the amount of buyers who attend auctions. And, let's face it, that data is impossible to obtain at this time. In the future though, when a majority of storage auctions are held online, we should be able to offer more reliable metrics.

And this is how misinformation becomes credible...it get's published in HuffPo.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-egan/what-are-the-top-us-citie_b_6519594.html

I attend auctions in the Marietta, GA. area and they are a b*tch! Anything decent is very expensive unless you find a poorly advertised auction on a day with multiple auctions going at the same time. The whole Atlanta Metro area is pretty competitive. Just compare the online prices of units in Atlanta compared to some other metro areas.

So, what factors do you guys think are the most important in determining the best cities for storage unit buyers?