any self-storage operators rent their units for 30 days, and while some may require a minimum stay, most offer month-to-month leases.

However, what happens when someone comes into your store and wants to rent a unit only for a week or even a day?

“We’ve had cases where we have given daily and weekly rentals,” says Carol Mixon, president of SkilCheck Services, Inc., in Tucson, Ariz. “I think it’s a good idea.”

While it isn’t a normal practice for many operators, Mixon says there are times it can be beneficial for the facility.

Many who have been in the self-storage industry for years know that sometimes one size doesn’t necessary fit all when it comes to the predicaments in which potential tenants may find themselves.

Mixon can recall several times she’s allowed a short-term rental, but the most interesting story happened when someone called wanting to store a whale overnight. Mixon thought it might be a prank at first, but this was no fish tale.

“Sea World in San Diego was transporting a whale from a facility on the East Coast to the West Coast,” explains Mixon. “The driver of the rig is mandated to stop every few hours to rest per federal guidelines, so the company called and asked if we would allow them to store the whale overnight in one of our units.”

Mixon says the company was out of options; the drivers couldn’t just park their precious cargo overnight in a hotel parking lot. “I had to call corporate and get the OK, and they finally said to go ahead and allow it,” says Mixon.

The driver backed up the rig into a 10-by-30. A guard was stationed outside of the unit while the driver got his mandatory sleep, and the whale and his transporter left the following morning.

Although that is a very special example of the different reasons someone may request a daily or weekly rental, Mixon has received many requests for a variety of different reasons over the years. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing it; you just have to ensure you amend your contract.”

If you have a facility in a college or military town, you may be able to fill in some vacancies by offering short-term rentals. “Sometimes military personnel and their families may be waiting for the government to move them and may only need the space for a week or two,” she says.

Students may also need to store their items short term while waiting for their dorms or apartments to be ready.

Mixon cites one case of a dentist who needed to store his office equipment in a unit for two weeks while he waited for his office to be remodeled. “The equipment went over the value limit for storage and no one else would rent to him,” says Mixon. “We finally received approval for him to store his equipment and he ended up paying more for two weeks than he would have paid for storing with us for a month.”

Mixon, who has managed properties in Hawaii, says some facilities there have even set up special hourly rates for tourists who need to check out of their hotel but have nowhere to store their luggage until their flight departs. “Those can be quite expensive and a good way for a facility near an airport to make additional income,” she says. “Some of those facilities charge up to $45 an hour to hold luggage.”

When a customer requests either a daily or weekly rental, they simply amend the contracts they already use to read as such. She says the most important thing is to make sure tenants do not think they can go over the specified time and just continue paying the daily rate.

“In this contract, you must also add the agreement that if they go over the specified time they will have to pay the monthly amount,” says Mixon. “People often need storage for longer than they think, and it’s common for them to need it more than the day or week they thought they would.”

Mixon calculates a daily rate based on the monthly rate for the unit. “That may not be much, and we will then make a minimum rate for something as short as a day,” she adds.

Of course, if you charge administrative fees, those will still apply to set up the rental.

The cons of offering shorter term rentals to tenants include:

• Removing a unit from the market for a limited time when you could have secured a tenant on a month-to-month lease who would likely stay much longer.
• There is a lot of paperwork for less revenue. However, you could charge an extra administrative fee to help cover these costs.
• Managers must be trained on setting up these types of rentals in the management system.

Mixon says the advantage of allowing short-term rentals, especially if your competitors are not and will not do it, even in special circumstances, is the goodwill you establish with customers and the community. “That dentist who we rented to for a couple of weeks ended up coming back when he needed long-term storage and became a good, loyal customer,” says Mixon. “That really can’t be measured.”