I'm Into buying Storage Units, and yes I've found some crazy stuff!

Hello World.

My name is Joe and my passion / hobby is buying abandoned storage units that were left behind by their previous owners. There are times when storage units contain items that belong to people who can no longer pay the rental fee, when this happens they go up for auction.

Despite what you might see on various popularized TV shows, it's not all that profitable and is a very risky investment.

However, you can find many interesting items and learn about the previous owners life. I think that the story behind each sold storage unit is much more valuable than the actual potential profit.

The Most Expensive Items I Found

The most expensive items that I have ever found were in a unit that I acquired for $350 USD.

Inside that locker was an imported Brazilian wood slate pool table, several large persian area rugs, and rare vintage clothing from Perry Ellis that were original unreleased designs. When all was sold, total profit was around $7k USD.

As it turns out, the person who owned the locker was not from the United States, and they paid the storage unit off for a number of years and then went back to their home country. While in the states, they lived a high-end fashionable lifestyle with lots of friends - as indicated by the photos recovered in the unit.

What Happens To Photos and Personal Items?

When you find personal items such as photos, documents, ashes (oh yes, I'll get into that), or anything of purely sentimental value, you are supposed to leave it in the unit and the facility will try their best to get it to the original owner. I make sure that I do this every time.

Sometimes people just throw it all into a truck, and then take the valuables and discard the rest at the nearest dump.


How rude...

So let's talk about those ashes.

I bought a 20x20 packed unit for $1200 USD. As I went through the items, it became apparent that it was just packed with junk. It's hard to tell sometimes, because all of the 'good stuff' is always in the back. What you see in the front is not always what you get, but in this case it was all junk. So a total loss for me.

As I was going through some boxes I found two heavy plastic boxes, that seemed to not have any opening and no labeling - yet I could hear that something was inside.

I pulled it close to my face and smelled it - no scent.
I shook it some more - shake shake shake went the contents... like sand but more.
I raised the box high above my head, preparing to smash it to the ground... and then...

I saw it...

There was a tiny label on one of the sides I had missed. The label had a name, a date, and a business name on it.

It was the name of a local crematorium.

That sent a shiver down my spine. Could you imagine the disastrous human dust cloud that would have blow up in my face had I smashed the box.

Not to mention the instant negative karma that probably comes your way from throwing the dead.

I immediately took both boxes into the front office and explained the contents, they looked horrified but they did their due diligence and fund the rightful owner.

The boxes resembled this box, but completely sealed.

The people in the two boxes were related men who both died in motorcycle accidents two years apart. From the contents in the locker it appears they were motorcycle enthusiasts (Harley Davidson mass produced Items), and their items were placed in storage for a number of years until they were no longer paid for.

It's all a bit depressing

Yes my friends, most lockers are abandoned due to death or financial ruin. It's the sad truth of it all, but it teaches you an extremely valuable lesson; when you die you can't take it with you and nothing lasts forever, so enjoy life to the fullest while you have the ability to do so!

This is what happens with your stuff when you go... it gets forgotten, resold, lost, and misplaced. It's all here now

Yes, even your secret porn suitcase that you have full of dirty magazines and dildos.

Friends helping me go through cases.

Storage Units and Steemit

I came across this site recently because some model was begging people to go to her Steemit, and it popped up on my social feed as a retweet. I thought my storage adventures might be a little more interesting that the latest bikini photo, so here I am giving it a shot.

That post reminded me of the early days of MySpace, how there were many 'models' that wanted exposure and slowly it became a social revolution.

It looks like Steemit is that kind of portal; a social revolution.

I've seen some very interesting stories and people here. What a great community.

I would like to post respectful stories about the items I find and some of the stories behind them. I think that the Stemmit community might find that interesting.

I'm totally new to this, so please let me know if you would be interested in seeing something like this. If so, don't forget to follow me and I will do my best to share interesting stories of my modern day treasure hunting finds!