While real estate may be in the dumps at the moment, one component that’s been keeping busier than normal is the Self Storage industry. When you think about it, given the various economic factors at play, this makes perfect sense.

People are moving out of their homes for a wide range of reasons. If they’re unemployed and can’t make mortgage payments any longer, people move out of their home and into an apartment. If their employer closes down and they have to move to another city in order to find work, they sell their existing home and move, often to an apartment or smaller home until more comfortable in the new location and confident that the new employer is stable. College students graduating into a tough employment market often move back home to live with their parents for a few years while they kickstart their career and save money for a house. And those who are reaching retirement age frequently sell their family home to move into a smaller home or condo that costs less to run and is easier to maintain. Even people who are trading and selling their existing home to take advantage of a soft market to buy up are often advised by realtors to get rid of as much “stuff” as possible to make their home easier to sell. What all of these situations have in common is a need for Self Storage; somewhere to temporarily house all the extra things they don’t have room for.

In urban areas where real estate is still reasonably active, the demand for temporary storage facilities can be high and rates can vary wildly. For example, in Los Angeles self storage units number in the thousands, but locating an available one in the needed size, in a convenient location and within a particular budget ca be a challenge. Leafing through the Yellow Pages is time consuming and having to make dozens of phone calls is added stress that nobody needs at a time when they’re considering a move. That’s why web sites like selfstoragedeals.com, which aggregates data from storage companies and makes it easy for consumers to search online using various criteria (such as size, price and location), have become so popular.

If you’ve ever tired to find a parking spot or a vacant apartment in New York City, you’ll understand why tracking down a Self Storage unit is such a challenge. Besides the usual reasons for storing things, New Yorkers typically have nowhere to keep their toys like boats, trailers and jet skis -New York self storage also becomes a virtual garage in these cases.