Friday, May 13, 2011

My Honest Opinion: Pack Rat Portable Storage

In my little pea brained mind, it's extremely difficult for me to comprehend the fact that this will be the 3rd summer we have spent in this house.


Seriously?

Where does the time go?

But I counted and sure enough...

There was Summer #1...


Summer of the firepit...


Also known to other members of our household (i.e., ME) as "the summer I grew a shelf for my arms"...


And then there was Summer #2


 
Summer of CUTENESS...


Look at that adorable baby!

Ugh.

I think my uterus just skipped a beat....

Is that possible?

And now Summer #3

The summer of Pop-pop's Pool....


But before any of that...there was this summer.



The summer where Techy and I sold our house (for sale by owner) in 14 days.


Which also meant the summer of dealing with mortgage companies, attorneys, real estate agents (for the purchase of our current home), and yes...packing for a big move.

Even though this house was a tiny house, Techy and I still had plenty to pack.

And because the house we were buying was a short sale, there was a very good chance that we would not have a home to move into for several weeks after we closed on the sale of our little place.

Ah, the joys of real estate.

But what this meant to us was that we would be in major need of storage.

We threw around our options.

There was always the idea of going with a month to month rental unit....

And renting a truck.

But have I mentioned how I enjoy being lazy?

If I am going to pay an extra $60/$70 a month for storage, why pay the extra moolah plus gas to drive it there!?

My first idea was PODS.


But the price was astronomical.*

I think it was well over $120/month.

We would rather have saved the extra $ and put our stuff in a storage unit in Albuquerque a with my truck than cash out that much on storage per month.

And then one day, I was driving home from work and passed this guy...


Within a few hours, we called their number, got a quote, and an arrival date for our Pack Rat.


That's right.

We like spur of the moment, under pressure decisions.

But only because Pack Rat offered monthly storage that was comparable with our local storage unit, only they included delivery, pick-up, and final destination delivery for no extra fee.

I think all in all, a local storage unit would have been somewhere in the ball park of $70/month and Pack-Rat was $80.

Um, where do I sign?!?!?!

We literally had it sitting here by the weekend.


Right in Techy's parking spot...


And we started packing. at leisure.

It was delivered about a month before our settlement date and we literally would come home and pack when we had free time.

Then, on settlement day, while the house was still ours, they trekked over to pick it up and take it to their warehouse.

Where it was stored, indoors.


You know, where everything stays clean and dry?


Plus, you provide your own lock, so that no one else has access to your stuff.

However, if you should need something out of your compartment, a quick call and visit to their warehouse, and they will bring your container to a holding area in their warehouse so you can get what you need out.

Then on delivery day, all we had to do was make a quick phone call and they were sitting in our new driveway with the container for us to unpack as time allowed.

Again, all of this was included in our month to month fee.

And it was worth every penny.

Considering there was an overlap of about 4 weeks that we were "homeless" or "between homes", this was the best option available to us.

And looking back, we would definitely consider 1-800-Packrat for any future moves.


Although, Techy insists we are never moving.

Ever.

Remember that firepit?

Apparently, to the Techmeister, that was the same as putting a wedding band on our house.

It was the "till death to us part" that he gave our home.

Go figure.

*Obviously, astronomical is an extremely relative term around here....

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