March 10, 2022
I recently attended a luncheon in Austin hosted by the Texas Self Storage Association that discussed the various ways you can manage your storage facility. There was a panel of 3 owners each managing their facilities in a different way. For this 3-part blog series we review one of the three options presented by that panel so you might have the facts to decide which might be best for you. The 3 options discussed were: Third Party Management, Owner Managed, or Remote Managed. In our first and second blog we covered Third Party Management and Owner Managed facilities. The topic we will review today are Remote Managed facilities.
Technology today has allowed the storage industry, particularly owners of small facilities (less than 50,000 SF) to avoid the expense and turnover of having to hire part time managers to be onsite during the day to meet potential tenants. Management software such as ESS, Storedge or Sitelink have enabled owners to easily integrate their website with their leasing software and even allow tenants to sign their lease agreement online.
Security and access control systems enhance this remote capability by allowing a tenant to obtain their individual gate code and perhaps even lock combination to their unit when they sign the digital lease. Security cameras today allow you to connect to the server anywhere in the world and remotely view your property.
Many owners worry that the tenant will not adapt to remote management. They believe the tenant will not accept having to pay by credit card only or that they will fear their belongings are more vulnerable without fulltime staff onsite.
The fact of the matter is most break-ins occur at night any way when staff is not onsite. Security measures an owner might consider when transitioning to remote management would be to install, LED lighting through the property, Smart Locks for each unit, video as well as potentially audio recording.
Today’s Smart Locks, such as the Noke’ system by Janus help prevent items from being stolen as they cannot be cut like a traditional pad or cylinder lock and there are sensors that detect movement inside the unit should someone try to jump through the top.
When utilizing remote management, it is a good idea to have a someone you trust check on the property once per week. This person will check for any suspicious activity as well as place locks on any newly vacant units and pickup the locks left behind by the tenants that have moved in.
We hope you enjoyed this blog series. Please reach out if we can be of any assistance!
Checkout some of our related content:
- Blog: https://crdrealty.com/how-should-you-manage-your-facility/
- Blog: https://crdrealty.com/fully-automated-rv-parks-the-future/
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