Finding storage auction listings can be a daunting task. If you live near Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio or Austin, Texas, finding storage auctions is very easy because AuctionsTX.com provides the most comprehensive storage auction schedules available. If you don't live near one of these cities, the following article will help you locate storage auctions in your area.
Most smaller cities and towns don't have a centralized information source to find storage auction information. This being said, you will have to search multiple sources to find storage auction listings in your area. These sources include newspapers (large, local & business), websites for the newspapers, the storage facilities, storage auction websites (national, regional & local) and the auctioneer's websites. This guide is meant to help you save time and money on your quest for information. Let's take a look at your options.
Your number one source for storage auction information could be your local newspaper. Some newspapers even have websites where you can search for legal notices for free. Some newspapers do charge a fee, usually between $100-$200 for an annual subscription. Depending on the size of your city, you may only need to look in one source. Smaller towns typically have one newspaper in which every storage facility within the area must advertise their legal notice. Your search may become more difficult if you live in a medium to large city because there may be several or more newspapers which publish legal notices.
In large cities like Houston & Dallas / Fort Worth areas, there are over 40 smaller independent newspapers which publish these notices. In areas like these, newspapers may not be your best option because, the cost to subscribe to and the amount of time required to search this many sources can be overwhelming. Not only that, it can be a real hassle to organize all of the dates, times, locations, etc. Keep in mind, auctions that are advertised in large newspapers are usually swarmed with new buyers due to the popularity of the storage auction reality shows.
Storage auction listing services can be a good resource but, you have to be careful because some don't deliver what they promise. If you are lucky enough to have one of these services that covers your specific city, this will be the best resource you could find. Local storage auction listing services are extremely rare; at this time, I believe there are only a handful that focus on a specific city. Our service focuses on storage auctions Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio & Austin, Texas. There are several storage auction listing services that focus on individual states, some of these can be great resources as well but, they usually aren't as thorough as the local services. Last but not least, there are a multitude of national storage auction listing services. I don't recommend using one of these services because their coverage area is so large and they neglect a majority of the storage unit auctions in most areas. Also, most of them are basically reselling information you can get for free, with minimal effort.
Another great way to find storage auction listings in your area is to locate the auctioneers that handle the auctions for the major storage facilities. You can locate these auctioneers through the search engines by using the following phrases - (storage auctions auctioneer your city) or (U-Haul / Public Storage auctions your city) or (storage auctions your city). In most areas, these search queries will produce 2-10 results from local auctioneers, newspapers & storage auction listing services that conduct storage auction events. Most of these auctioneers will have a page on their website which lists their storage auction schedule. Keep in mind, their websites only list the auctions that they are conducting.
Some storage facilities do publish their upcoming auctions on their website. I recommend using the online yellow pages, Google Maps or Yahoo Local search for this information because you can limit the search to provide listings of storage facilities within your zip code. Most of these results will include links to the storage facility's websites.
If you have a lot of time on your hands, the last method can produce the best results. Calling the storage facilities in your area can be one of the best ways to get up to date information on local storage auctions. This method works best if you live in a smaller town or city. However, if you live in a medium to large city, I recommend focusing on your zip code or your specific community. One of the main advantages to calling storage facilities is that the facility may have advertised their auction in a smaller independent newspaper which may be difficult for the general public to find. This is especially true in suburban and rural areas. These auctions can be lucrative because a majority of the crowds will be attending the highly publicized auctions. When there is less competition at an auction, it greatly increases your odds of purchasing a storage unit at a lower cost.
I truly hope this article has been helpful. Good luck at the auctions!
The best way I have found is to call the storage facilities and ask them what company they use for their auctions. Then contact the auctioneers or check their website, they will tell you when their auctions are. Usually there are just a couple of companies in an area.
This approach would probably work fine in smaller towns; however, in medium to large towns and cities, it’s not going to work. First of all, you have to realize that more than half of all storage facilities don’t use auctioneers. Most storage facility managers or owners conduct the auctions themselves. In larger cities like Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston & San Antonio, there are thousands of storage facilities and it would be a full time job to call them all. Trust me, our call center does it every day. In the larger cities, there may be several auctioneers that provide storage auction information on their website. The problem with using this approach is that if you rely on the auctioneers alone, you could be missing hundreds of auctions every month.
This article is so helpful, and very true,especially when you mentioned that not many cities post info on auctions. I had that trouble a lot, but lately I’ve been using AuctionsTX.com and they are so helpful about answering all my questions, and helping me find auctions near me.
One reason storage auctions are so exciting is the risk of bidding. You’re up against a crowd of people (hopefully not too many people) who may or may not know more about what they see in the locker up for auction.
I would like to start buying storage units to put in my store.
Hello, we are a new site letting the public know who we are. Our auctions are nation wide and we are expanding. Come and check us out at American Auction Listings .com
Normally, I would have just deleted a submission like this but I decided to use it as an example of all of the storage auction websites that are coming out of the woodwork trying to sell storage auction listings. Most of these websites have a national coverage area and they claim to be the best. Anytime I come across one of these websites, I usually take some time to compare their storage auction listings to ours. I visited American Auction Listings .com and I compared the auction listings they had on their website for the Dallas / Fort Worth area to those on our Dallas storage auction schedule on November 16th, 2011. They had none listed at all for the entire day. Our schedule had 43 storage auctions listed. I compared the auction listings they had on their website for the Houston area to those on our Houston storage auction schedule on November 16th, 2011. They had none listed at all for the entire day. Our schedule had 29 storage auctions listed.
Most of these companies don’t have the resources to provide the storage auction schedule for a single city, let alone the entire United States. Even the large storage auction listing services that have 15 +/- employees do a really poor job as well. My advice to these national storage auction lists is to focus on a few cities and deliver quality results to their subscribers. No one will continue to pay for mediocre results, so don’t waste their time or yours.
The Texas Self Storage Association (TSSA) initiated the modernization to the lien laws in Texas. While we were successful on some fronts, you’re correct in that we weren’t able to remove the requirement for advertising lien sales in the newspapers. However, TSSA has created a free auction website to help members publicize their auctions. TSSA members can post their auctions at: http://www.storageauctionstx.org and the general public can search for auctions in their area at no cost.
The site launched a few months ago and is starting to get some good traffic. Keep in mind that this is a site focusing on Texas so it’s not going to have the same kind of traffic as a national site. At some point we’ll probably consider allowing non-members to post their auctions as well, but for now, this site is a service to members.
I have visited the TSSA’s auction website several times and I was impressed with the way it is set up. Like any new website, it takes time for a following to develop. I do recommend that all TSSA members that are having an auction, post the schedule on the TSSA website. This could result in additional exposure. If the storage facility is located within 60 miles of Dallas, Fort Worth or Houston or within 50 miles of San Antonio or Austin, the facility owner, manager or auctioneer can post a free advertisement with AuctionsTX.com. We currently have several hundred members, so posting an advertisement on our website will greatly increase traffic to the storage facility’s event.
Thanks!! I’m just getting into the storage auction industry, and was having trouble finding all of the auctions in my area. With your tips, I think I’ll be finding more very soon.
Can or do you know of how to find units in Sacramento? Do we need to just call all storage facilities? My fiance and I are older than 50 and would like to check out doing this as I have sold at swaps for years and am good at it. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks, Korie
Korie,
Storage auction lists that provide information for a specific area are the way to go. To my knowledge, Sacramento doesn’t have a storage auction list specifically for the city. http://www.StorageAuctions.com does provide a list for the entire state of California. I have not personally used their website but from what I have seen and heard, they are the most reliable source for storage auction information in the State. I do not advise you to subscribe to a auction list that has a national coverage area. Most of these websites are too large and they cannot produce the same quality as a auction list for a specific city. If you join one of these national auction list websites, you will be missing a lot of auctions in your area. If you prefer to do your own research, I advise you to call multiple storage facilities in your area and ask them what newspaper they place their legal notices in. Once you have this information, subscribe to these newspapers, read them every day and create your own spreadsheet to keep track of all of the information.
I hope this answered your question. If anyone else has a comment or question pertaining to this subject, please leave your response below.
Do you have a schedule for the DFW area storage auctions?
Yes, just visit AuctionsTX.com. Our auction schedule for the DFW area lists over 300 storage unit auctions every month.
I’ve been following quite a few postings as of late that try and dissuade people from checking online resources. Whereas many do resell or syndicate listings findselfstorageauctions .com does not. The original model that our site is based on is the Arizona Self Storage Association’s listing database. We perfected this model as the developing board members and created findselfstorageauctions .com with that in mind. Where we differ is in the fact that we are active storage operators and association board members and we are the only site that is given to state associations for FREE and also free to the public. All auction listings are created and entirely controlled by operators. You can’t get any more reliable than that. Growing up in Dallas, TX I always noticed that everyone claims to be a roofer after a hail storm. Only trust listings by industry members, and especially trust listings that are posted and controlled directly by operators like you find on FindSelfStorageAuctions .com. Lastly, the reason why your state or area may not have this resource in place yet is because up until now, online listings we ALL syndicated from classified Ads because online listings were not a legally supported method of advertising lien auctions. Many states are currently working to update those laws like some of their counterparts. As soon as that happens, expect to see more and more reliability in online postings because you will know that they are created by operators and not information gatherers and article/listing/classified syndicators.
I recently read an article, on a storage auction forum, by Jim Johnson, a writer for the Associated Press, that reviewed your website along with 19 others. Here is what that reviewer said .
“This is a free national storage auction listing service that charges the facilities a fee to post their auctions. I performed a search and there were no auctions listed in our entire state. The website looks clean but with no content, it is hard to recommend. One good thing that I will say about them is that they don’t waste a lot of your time before showing you that they don’t have any auctions listed.”
I decided to look into this review and see if it is fair. I searched for storage auction listings in Texas on your website and I was unable to find any. I do agree with Jim though, your website does look good. Perhaps, your website will be more relevant once you get more storage facilities involved.
Texas recently tried to amend Chapter 59 of it’s property code to allow legal notices to be placed on publicly available websites. This section was stripped from the bill due to opposition from Texas newspapers, which would have lost billions in annual revenue.
Despite it’s recent failure, I am a firm believer that this will change in the future. I also believe that legal notices that are advertised on a publicly available website best represent the interest of the public, the storage facility & the delinquent tenant; however, I think we have a long road ahead.
I have a question for you though. If your website operates by charging the storage facilities to place an advertisement, and a law is passed which allowed storage facilities to place their legal notices on a publicly available website, what makes you think a storage facility will pay to advertise on your site as opposed to placing a free classified ad on a website like Craigslist? Also, what state does your service provide the most listings for and why?
I appreciate the opportunity to answer your questions.
I’m very much aware of the review you quoted and it fails to mention the age of the current national website. After 8 months of work converting the original platform, we launched a couple of month ago. So, naturally, there aren’t going to be instant listings.
Every state, including Texas, is in some phase of lien law modernization. Most states are seeing success in their efforts to allow for online postings to satisfy notification. Some aren’t but that certainly doesn’t preclude online listings from any well rounded, and well informed operator’s advertising methods.
I agree to a point about the public interest statement… I believe, as our model represents, that storage associations are there to maintain industry integrity and provide resources for both operators and the public. Operators want tangible benefits, and a listing database as cost effective and visible as this is in their best interest. It is also in the best interest of the public to have an association overseeing the postings and the listing process since it has the potential to be a gigantic liability for both the public and the operator. We are offering the framework, technical support, and the database at no cost to any association that wants it.
Craigslist is a great resource, but it wasn’t developed specifically for this industry, by industry members, and it won’t modify itself if necessary to adhere to lien laws in every state it operates in like we will. Our site is an open slate, and we will help customize it for the needs of any state association that wants it. We aren’t boxed into structure and we are willing to go with the flow as the various lien laws change, or not.
One thing you aren’t taking into account is that it isn’t just putting it online that brings customers. Who says that operators can’t list an auction in multiple places, regardless of the lien laws right now? Nothing prevents online advertising, it merely prevents it in some states as an official form to satisfy notifications, but certainly not as a secondary source. $10 listings are a far cry from the hundreds that we all spend on classifieds right now, and that is what it would cost a member facility. We also allow them to list it as far in advance as they want and don’t require them to re-list it every few days like Craigslist. If they want to list it 12 months out, they can. Operators have total control of the listing at all times and can modify it up until the auction. If the listing is syndicated, it may not be accurate up to the minute like our site. The website’s visibility is the major attraction. The public uses it. Are some finding dead ends in their state, sure, but as their state changes its laws, they will begin to use our service. I go to our 3 facility’s auctions every time, and I smile when I see printed out auction listings from out site in the hands of new and pro auction attendees.
I stand by the fact that the public needs a resource made for this reason, one that adheres to lien laws, is operated by associations that have their state’s best interests in mind, and the public’s best interest in mind.
As far as the public goes, it isn’t in their best interest to have to search multiple places for accurate information. Craigslist is great for garage sales and other things, but lets face it, it is also full of inaccuracy and spam.
To answer you last question, the original platform for our site was developed by us for Arizona almost 2 years ago, in fact, before most state’s began the lien law battles they are currently in, and before reality TV entered the picture. The reason we even created the national version is because we were contacted by numerous storage associations that wanted to potentially buy Arizona’s website or code. When they heard how much we had in development, they quickly realized that it isn’t as easy as it sounds. After about the 10th call over a couple of months, I suggested that we take the task on ourselves and develop it for them. Needless to say, they liked the idea and we went forward. Naturally Arizona is the most featured state because it began there, has been active for over a year, and most telling, the concept has not only been embraced by operators, but has also been embraced as the “official” authority in auction listings in the state. The public clearly trusts the information and knows that it is accurate and intended to inform.
We are ready to support all states as they come online, and we will remain patient until that happens. Until then, educating the public on the progress of lien law changes is a must.
Hopefully that answers the questions you had. As for the review, everyone is entitled to an opinion. None of the websites out there have consistency or total saturation in every market, and that won’t happen until the industry progresses and the public is re-educated as to the newly adopted online listing mechanisms that are at the operators’ hands. That is where associations and the great service they provide to operators and the public comes in.
I hope that my last reply didn’t come across as offensive, it wasn’t intended to be. After learning more about the time and money you have invested into making your website effective, I am even more certain that you will be successful in the future. In all sincerity, I wish you the best of luck.
Obviously, the writer of the original article didn’t take into account that your website is a recent start up. Now that I know this, my opinion has definitely changed.
Just out of curiosity, how is the AZSA’s website funded?
No worries. I’m glad we’re on the same page. I am the Communications Co-chair, and the Technology Chair, and my partner is a our Legislative Chair, and has crafted a large majority of Arizona’s lien laws and provided assistance to many other states that end up adopting very similar, if not identical lien laws to what he crafts.
The Arizona Self Storage Association used its discretionary funds to develop the selfstorageauctionsaz. com website, and I co-chaired the development committee. Arizona owns and operates its website completely on its own, and not affiliated financially or managerially with findselfstorageauctions. com in any way. I assume that is what you were asking at the end of your last post.
Either way, with the blessing of the Arizona board, Richard and I formed a private venture, funded entirely by the two of us, and created our website using the AZ site’s code as the framework. Feel free to call to send me an email and we can exchange phone numbers if you want to discuss anything else. I’m happy to do it.
Does your service list moving and storage company auctions when they empty storage
vaults and auction the items to pay the unpaid fees?
We do cover moving and storage facilities, however, they occur less often than storage unit auctions. Some moving and storage facilities only have auctions once or twice a year. We also cover the portable storage container auctions like U-Box, PODS & 1800-Packrat. These companies usually have auctions every month.