Is your home overflowing with “stuff”? You know, “stuff” is the things that you don’t use often that primarily just takes up space. Skis, old books or magazines, keepsakes, pretty much anything could be occupying valuable real estate in your home. And let’s face it, there’s not a lot of space in New York. In fact, if everyone who lives and works in New York City was outside at the same time, there wouldn’t be enough space for them all.

If you are looking for a bit more elbow room in your home, self-storage might be a great solution for you. There are over sixty self-storage locations on the island of Manhattan. With this many options, figuring out which one is the best fit for you can be a challenge. Thankfully, we have compiled a few tips to help, from those who have been there before you.

One of the first considerations is accessibility. Sure, you want your things out of your home, but that doesn’t mean you are going to disregard them entirely. With so many self-storage sites in Manhattan, there is likely one near you; however, the prospect of moving all of your things even a few blocks across the city can be daunting.

Another option is to find an extensive database of storage “landlords”: people who have some extra space in their home or business that they rent out to people like you. The landlord-tenant solution provides some extra benefits to traditional self-storage. Not only might there be locations closer to your home (maybe even in the same building), but because these spaces are generally part of someone’s home or office space, there are people who have a vested interest in keeping the space safe and secure. Just in the course of living their lives and doing business, they have an eye on your things.

The cost of self-storage varies depending on what your storage needs are. For a small space (around 4’ x 3’ x 3’), you can expect to pay from thirty to seventy dollars per month. Larger spaces (10’ x 20’) are in the range of $150 to $700 per month. In a true self-storage marketplace, you can negotiate your price with your landlord, so there is a lot of room for improvement on these prices.

No matter which route you choose, keep in mind the three things that most people look for in storage: security, accessibility, and pricing. When you find the best mix of these three, you’ll know that you have found your storage solution.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 16th, 2010 at 12:48 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.