Sharing storage with friends might sound like an excellent idea for saving money. However, there are many caveats to this, as well as problems that can arise from doing so. The most common group that decides on this is students. There are many reasons why a college student should rent storage. However, most of them think it is essential to save money when doing so. Our advice, though, is to splurge a bit when it comes to keeping your personal belongings safe. Let’s go through a few reasons why you shouldn’t share storage with friends.
One of the first issues that come to mind when discussing renting storage with friends is mix-ups about what belongs to whom. When you rent a storage unit, you need to pack all your belongings and prepare everything properly before taking it there. It is even more critical for you to do this so that your items do not mix with theirs. Whether it is labeled boxes or another system you think of, you will probably have to do a lot more work to store your things correctly. Even all of this effort can sometimes be useless, especially if you and your friend store the same type of things like a brand of coffee you buy in bulk.
To avoid a situation where you decide to get something from the unit, only to find it missing because someone forgot it isn’t theirs, it is just better to rent your own space.
Another big problem with shared storage is that in this situation, your storage is financially dependent on another person. So if your friend cannot cover their part of the rent for the month, you will have to pay for both of you. The other person also has a problem because they owe money to you.
This practice sometimes also becomes a habit for people. Then they stop paying rent, always promising to make it up later, and that moment never comes. In that situation, you have already paid full rent for a few months, need to pay a cancellation fee for the contract, and rent another unit just for yourself. Renting one out alone from the start prevents a lot of stress and money wasting.
There are two main ways that security or lack thereof can create an issue.
The first one is the difference in needs. If you do not plan on storing anything of value in the unit, you probably will not require the same level of storage that the other person needs. And, of course, the more secure the unit, the bigger the price. So, why would you want to pay the cost of high-end security when you know you will not be using it?
Secondly, some people might try to take advantage of you. You might think that would not happen with your friends. However, from our experience, people can surprise you. This is why it is imperative to check what kind of security your facility offers if you decide to trust your friend. If your end goal is to save money and you would rather go to a cheaper, less secure facility, sharing a storage unit with friends is not for you. Although, we do recommend splurging on security anyway for other reasons.
There are several mistakes you can make in storing documents, but one of the biggest ones is keeping them in a place other people can access at all times. Even if you trust your friends to keep your documents safe, they might send over someone who will not be as kind. If your friend is out of town, they might send their sibling to pick something up. They could spill something on the documents. It is better to avoid all of these problems.
When you decide to share a unit with a friend, you must consider a couple of financial and legal matters. There are some difficult decisions to be made before signing the lease. This shouldn’t be too hard to discuss and settle at first. However, most issues come up later on. There are some questions you have to answer together before you decide.
While sharing storage with friends is possible, and several people can rent a single unit, only one of you can sign the contract. The one who decides to sign the lease is ultimately responsible for the upkeep of the unit. This gives the person a lot of extra responsibility.
The person who signs the contract is responsible for following the terms stated in them. This means that only that person can be legally fined or prosecuted for not maintaining the condition of the unit or making sure there aren’t any restricted items in there.
When sharing storage with another friend, adequately dividing the cost is easy. Just divide the space and rent price into two halves. However, if you’re sharing storage with multiple friends, things can get a bit more convoluted. You need to be able to split the cost equally, and some people might want to pay less for taking up less area within the unit.
Whether it’s the size or the amenities that the unit offers, choosing the right type of unit can be a challenging job for everyone. The more of you there are, the harder it gets.
While it might not feel like it, renting storage with friends is similar to having roommates. There are a lot of responsibilities to be shared. Everything needs to be agreed upon by everyone. Having to rely on each other because of material possessions and their safety can ruin a friendship.
The point of this article was not to avert you from sharing storage with friends but to show you how problematic it can be, so you are aware of everything. You need to consider this big decision objectively to make the right choice for yourself.