Times are tough right now in the US, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain solid control over your home. Homes bought with bad credit are now delinquent left and right, and unless you have a multi-million dollar bank account, buying one can seem like a nightmare or deadly deal.
In times like these, different people choose different styles to keep things afloat. They can get busy selling their antique furniture, prized paintings, and other heirloom pieces. Some people choose to sell their home and possessions, buy an RV, and live a life of itinerant across the country. Several brave singles will even sell, give away, or throw away everything but the essentials (a change of clothes, credit or debit cards, a laptop, etc.) and become full-time backpackers, traveling the world. and experiencing life all over the planet! However, for people who are short on cash and have nothing more than rented storage space, they may decide to go all out and live in storage space.
Mad? your bet feasible? If you’re lucky, yes. Risky? Absolutely!
Deciding to live in your rented storage space presents a number of risky situations for both you and your landlord. It poses risks and dangers for you and everyone. How is that?
Before signing the contract, somewhere in the fine print, you may have had to fill in your current address. This means that you should have been living in your own space even before you started renting out your storage space. Your lease will also stipulate that under no circumstances should you, the tenant, even occupy the rented space. The lease will make it clear that you are only renting the space to store your things, not to sleep, do your homework, or even, God forbid! – Entertain dozens of drunk and chattering guests at your house party and storage space!
Most likely, your landlord has shown you the space itself. Please note that they will have security cameras placed at all vantage points facing outside and into your storage space. There will also be alarms and locks installed to protect your property and storage door from prying hands, including yours.
Now, let’s look at the more practical aspects of even trying to live in a storage space. As I mentioned earlier, the moment you sign that contract and look at your storage space, this is a classic case of WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get. You’ll gain access to a large hangar-like space made of concrete, steel, and maybe some plexiglass. Note that there is no mention of running water, electricity, a phone line, Internet access, gas, and other aspects of living a comfortable and civilized life. If you try to sneak into your own storage space (and I highly recommend you don’t), you’ll realize how underrated the ability to simply get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom is. Getting ready for work won’t be the same anymore, as you’ll most likely be trying to find ways to take a decent shower, brush your teeth, iron your clothes, get dressed, and grab a bite to eat in increasingly blushing places. Goldberggain methods, and not necessarily in that order. When your landlords finally catch you in the act (security cameras and locks, right?), they’ll have to turn you over to the police and “evict” you from your own rented space. Not a happy ending to this story.
In the end, renting a space is fine, but don’t even try to make it a home.