Deep Deals: Atlanta Storage

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Brian Shreckengast

We’ve searched the Peach State far and wide to bring back today’s Deep Deals on Atlanta storage units. Our focus was on Medium 5×10 storage units, and boy did we find us some peaches–two to be precise. Deals just don’t get juicier than these two.

Remember, the purpose of our weekly Deep Deals isn’t just to highlight the best offers on storage in a given city, but also to prove a point: that because storage facilities feature different kinds of offers, monthly price shouldn’t be the only thing you consider when making your decision. Most special deals are based on the amount of time you stay in the unit. Storage facilities have different goals when it comes to keeping tenants for a period of time–some want to hook you in for a shorter stint and so offer great move-in offers (like $1 for the first month), while some would prefer you to stay for three-or-four months and so spread their specials out over that period of time (like 50%-off the first three months). Whichever is the best deal for you is based upon how long you plan on staying. We’ve chosen two such specials to compare in order to help you plan ahead.

The first facility we’ve chosen is Metro Self Storage-Decatur, where 5×10 units are going for a low $36 a month. But awesome price isn’t even the juiciest part of the deal–it’s their offer of the first month for just $1 that caught our eye. That’s right: a month in a 5×10 storage unit for just $1. They’re basically giving that space away!

But if you think that’s a delicious deal, try this one: SmartStop-Austel Rd. is offering a 5×10 unit for just $39 a month. “But that’s $3 more!” you might be saying–true, but you didn’t let us finish: your first three months will come at half off. That’s right, 50% off the sticker price of the first three months–that’s just $19.50 a month, less than most 5×5 units.

So which is the best deal for you–$36 a month with a $1 first month, or $39 a month with the first three months half-off? In the end, it all depends on how long you want to stay.

As you can see in our graph, anyone looking to rent a storage unit in Atlanta for two months would do best with Metro Self-Storage, where that $1 first month brings the two month total to just $37. But after two months things begin to change. In the third month (November in the graph) that 50%-off for the first three months at SmartStop begins to kick in. SmartStop’s unit will cost just $58.50 for the first three months compared to Metro’s $73. SmartStop will hold its lead as the most affordable option all the way up to the seventh month (March). At that point Metro has almost caught up–it’s seven-month totals come in at $217 vs. SmartStop’s $214.50. In the next month Metro will finally become the more affordable option again: at $253 for eight months it will be fifty cents cheaper than SmartStop. Metro will continue from then on to be more affordable than SmartStop. After eleven months Metro will cost just $361 to SmartStop’s $370.50.

So what can we take away from this? If you’re planning on renting a storage unit in Atlanta for two months or more than seven months, Metro Self-Storage-Decatur is the choice for you. But if you’re in Atlanta and planning on renting a unit for between three and seven months then SmartStop-Austel Rd. has the best deal on offer for you. Always remember to plan ahead–knowing how long you’ll be staying in the unit is key to finding the best deal on storage.

Brian Shreckengast is a writer at Self Storage Deals.

Mapshot: Atlanta Storage

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Brian Shreckengast

Today’s Mapshot is a zoomed-in shot of that zoomed-out city, Atlanta, Georgia. We decided to look at XXL, 10×20 units today. The ATL itself is already so widespread that including suburbs like Roswell and Snellville would make our map look little different from this week’s Storage Spotlight. So we’ve decided to cut out many of the satellite cities that ring Atlanta–not that this should make too much of a difference, as we’ve already seen that many of these locations have the same or higher prices than Atlanta itself.

So what can we discover from today’s Mapshot? Well, it comes as no surprise that the closer to the city’s core the higher the prices, with rates around central Atlanta nearing $300. Some notable exceptions near the Downtown area are Metro Self Storage- Bankhead ($181) and Champion- North-West Atlanta ($184). But to really find better prices, you’re got to head out to neighborhoods like Mableton, Smyrna, Sandy Springs, North Druid Hills, Belvedere Park, and Riverdale. As we can see, most storage facilities around Atlanta are clustered to the north and south of the city, with a few in the east. The western side of the city is almost entirely absent of facilities.

The average price of an XXL 10×20 storage unit in Atlanta is $163.13. The Deal of the Day is half of that–just $82 at Uncle Bob’s Self Storage- Austell, located out past Mableton. Other good deals can be found at SmartStop- Roswell Rd. up north in Sandy Springs, and down south in Riverdale at SecurCare Self-Storage-Morrow ($97) and Uncle Bob’s Self Storage-Morrow ($92).

Have any extra insights to add on the Atlanta storage scene? Let us know below!

Brian Shreckengast is a writer at Self Storage Deals.

Storage Spotlight: Atlanta

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Brian Shreckengast

It should come as no surprise that the sprawling conurbation that is the Atlanta metropolitan area is the center of Georgia’s storage solar system–because, as you can see in the population heatmap below, it contains the vast majority of Georgia’s people. Atlanta is an odd sort of city, member of a breed unique to the American South. With a population of 420,000 Atlanta itself would be considered small among major American cities–only the 40th largest, to be exact. But the surrounding metropolitan area is massive in size and population. Together with its satellite cities, the Atlanta Metroplex boasts a total population of 5,268,860, making it the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the United States as well as Georgia the ninth-most populous state.

Because of Atlanta’s dispersed nature, it makes little sense for us to focus this week’s Storage Spotlight on the city itself, so we’ll be discussing satellite cities like Roswell, Snellville, and Smyrna as well.

The deeper purple a circle the higher the price; larger circles denote a higher proportion of storage facilities in that city. The blue-green pattern overlying the map is a population heatmap divided according to zip codes; darker blues represent higher populations. Zoom in or out with the control bar that appears in the upper left-hand corner.

Zooming out from the map will allow you to see just how concentrated Georgia’s population and storage facilities are within the Atlanta Metroplex. We can also see that Atlanta is big on self storage. Together, the fifteen cities that make up the Metroplex have a total of 336 facilities, with an average of 22 each–topping the national average by ten. This is significantly more than cities like Boston and Philadelphia, though not nearly as many as Chicago. This may be due to the fact that Midwestern and Southern states have much more room to spread out, opening up spaces for storage facilities.

As with Chicago, Atlanta’s suburbs often have as many or more storage facilities–along with higher prices–as the city itself. In terms of number of facilities, Roswell tops the list with 34, followed by Alpharetta (32), Decatur (29), Atlanta (29), and Smyrna (27). In terms of price, at an average of $144.23 a month East Point is the most expensive place to rent storage spaces in the Atlanta Metroplex, followed by Decatur ($135.85), Smyrna ($134.71), Atlanta ($132.46), Roswell ($129.72), and Cumming ($127.29). Other notable cities for storage within the ATL Metroplex include Woodstock, Buford, Kennesaw, Forest Park, Lawrenceville and Marietta.

In national terms, Georgia storage’s average monthly price is $127.58, three dollars more than the ATL Metro’s average of $124 but $1.50 less than the average national price of $129/month. The state of Georgia itself has an average of 15 storage facilities per city, three more than the national average of 12 per city. Outside of the Atlanta Metroplex, Macon (with six facilities and an average price of $141.38), Savannah (seven and $93.28), McDonough (nine and $135.89) and Columbus (nine and $147.74) and the top cities for self storage in Georgia.

Thicker bars represent a higher proportion of the state’s facilities.

Brian Shreckengast is a writer at Self Storage Deals.

Last updated by Brian Shreckengast at August 13, 2012.