The top benefits for self storage when you're moving home

There are probably very few people in this world who would say that they have too much storage. In fact, even having enough storage can feel like something of a luxury.

For most people, it’s essential to use storage astutely. This is particularly true for home-movers. With that in mind, Ben Yeardley, Director of Loxleys Self Storage in Mansfield shares top five benefits of self-storage when you’re moving home.

It allows you to stage your current home more effectively

One of the reasons why selling a home can be such a stressful experience is because your home essentially becomes a showhouse. As a show-house, it needs to be in pristine condition every time someone comes to see it. That means any sort of clutter has to be banished until a confirmed buyer is found.

If you put little-used/off-season items into self-storage then you clear out storage space for the items you really need in your home at all times. That way you can easily create the look of a clutter-free home - even if it’s just by throwing everything into your newly-available closed storage.

It helps the clear-out process

Whenever you have a serious clear-out, you generally start by literally clearing out a designated zone. You then go through everything and figure out what goes and what stays. This can be an exhausting process and, of course, the more you have to clear out, the more exhausting it becomes.

If you move some of your belongings into self-storage, you immediately reduce the amount of stuff you have in your home. This means that you reduce the amount of stuff you have to declutter, organize and use up/dispose of or pack before you move. You, therefore, give yourself a lot more room to manoeuvre and a lot less potential stress.

It can improve security

The modern home-selling process virtually requires you to put photos (and possibly videos) of your home online along with your address. It also requires you to let strangers into your home to inspect it, albeit under supervision. If you’re renting, then your landlord may well put details of your home online before you move out to line up a replacement tenant.

It’s therefore advisable to move anything you particularly value out of your house until the sale is confirmed. You might be able to store small items with family and friends. For larger items, however, self-storage is likely to be the more practical option.

It means you can move in stages

Usually, the most astute way to use self-storage is to hire a unit that’s big enough to hold everything you could possibly want to put in it. Then you can scale up and scale down what you keep in it according to the progress of your move.

For example, you could choose just to move everything you need for the subsequent three or four months. You could then move the rest in stages, clearing out as you go. You could even move your belongings in and out of storage until you finally have your new home as you want it for the foreseeable future.

It lets you assess your new home before you commit

No matter how many floor plans and photos and videos you see, no matter how many in-person visits you make, you only really get to know what a house is like when you live in it. This means that you need to be prepared to be flexible.

You may also need to be prepared to let go of, or at least repurpose items you bought for your old house. They might not fit the way you thought they would. Even if they do, they might not work the way you think they should. By the same token, you may find that some items from your old house actually work much better than you expected.

Using self-storage allows you to work out what you can and can’t use in your new home before you commit to selling or buying anything. It can therefore help you to avoid expensive mistakes.