I have posted on FB about “an auction event occurs at xxx (site) ends on certain date.” Nothing specific about the units.

@Wes Eaves To me (as I sense that you are the same :)) I want to run the business with heart, care and the willingness to work with tenants who genuinely make the effort to bring their balance down, when they might be going through some kind of financial hardship. I have dealt with a few and it was rewarding to be able to help people. At the same time, after longer than legally allowed delinquency period elapses and exhausted all collection efforts, the last thing I want my business to be viewed as "a place where people don't pay and nothing happens". 😄 That signals loose (or even weak) management, which attracts more of the same. It's just my take. Would love to see other's opinions.

@Terry Royce storagetreasures.com

Similar to you @Wes Eaves , the only other one I have used is storageauctions.

@Wes Eaves couldn’t agree with you more!

@Kevin Somers Thank you for your perspective. Choosing one over the other suggests that refundable advance deposit and admin fee cannot coexist. While I understand that having both might reduce conversion, which any owner/operator works hard trying to accomplish the opposite. But the two charges are for two different objectives: Deposit is to ensure complete clean out with no damages upon move-out and will be fully refunded unless otherwise; it will be recognized as revenue if refundable conditions are not met. But this is one way that owners can recuperate some of the clean out cost when tenants decide to flee the scene overnight leaving a mess behind while turning off their cards on file. This effectively reduces expenses/increases revenue, so improve NOI or keep NOI with less negative impact. Admin fee is to cover onboarding cost and regular standard upkeep cost and is non-refundable. While having deposit might be a deterrence to conversion, it might also be a way of screening prospects, and having better quality tenants. I just think it could be a useful lever to pull when needed. My curiosity still remains: what exactly the "headache" managing/tracking the deposits that I kept seeing from other operators. 🤔 I just want to better understand what the headaches are and if there are ways to overcome them.

@Brent Hendricks thanks Brent for sharing your experiences! I had also realized that alot of the headache caused by one thing that starts it all: the card on file! Had the tenants not deactivated cards or switched to new cards without updating the system, we would not have run into payment being declined or unable to collect the clean out fee in the first place! Also congrats on your new purchase! 👏

@Caitlin Lombardo while I don’t have personal experience dealing with an environmental report that’s over a decade old, the potential complications it could create at the time of sale alone would be enough for me to pursue at least a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment, especially if there are — or previously were — gas stations, car washes, or other environmentally sensitive uses on the nearby parcels, which seems to be the case here. A Phase 1 is relatively low cost (still real money, don’t get me wrong 🙂). I did a phase I with mine because there is a car wash and there was a gas station close by in the past). compared to the exposure you’d be taking on by ignoring it, plus it puts you in a much stronger position and with much less anxiety whether you’re holding, refinancing, or selling.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ I think there are some differences between the desktop version and phase I. Price being one, the level of details and lender requirement (some lenders require Phase I), being other differences I can think of.

@Caitlin Lombardo personally, I think since SBA most likely requires an environmental study as a condition for financing, if a Phase 1 was completed, flagged some items, but they still funded the deal, that’s actually a positive sign and should work in your favor. To me It means a professional evaluator reviewed the concerns and concluded they didn’t rise to the level of a disqualifying environmental concerns. On the buyer side: if there are any close proximity to “issue prone” parcels (car wash etc), I would think it’s a plus that the seller had a phase I done. Give the buyer more confidence to more forward. I think the part might turn buyers off is the content: minor issue or non issue vs needs phase II. :) Was there anything alarming in this reliance letter? Any new businesses over the last 13 years that could cause any issues?