Own the storage warehouse?

[Rex]

I could use the opinions and suggestions from the wise folks on here.....

I am in the very early planning stages of our ER.

One of the "strategic plans" is to sell the family home and move in to the beach condo for 5 years (to avoid the capital gains)....After the 5 years, possibly sell the beach condo and move into the newer and smaller home with a location TBD.

So the question comes as to what we should do with our stuff. We are not pack rats and I am not talking about boxes of papers and just junk. We do manage (and will manage) to get rid of that.

I would prefer to store the "good furniture" and use that again in the later home.

I don't want to pay storage rent.

Has anybody bought a storage warehouse or had one built and used that as the "family garage"? I am thinking that may be cheaper in the long run and might be an inexpensive way to save on buying new furniture and would also encourage the future home from being too big because we would have the "family garage" nearby....And would not be paying rent.

And later on, I guess I could rent it out or sell it.

Thoughts? Anybody done anything like that?

Thanks

[JDARNELL]

Sell the furniture and buy again when u finally settle. Too much hassle to build something only to sell later. Gonna be a resource drain unless u can figure some income play

[Brat]

Setting aside the cost of storage the only storage that can maintain the proper humidity for fine furniture is one that has been built inside a former warehouse. Such as these in Portland: Downtown Self Storage Facility | Portland, OR 97209 .

[panacea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDARNELL Sell the furniture and buy again when u finally settle. Too much hassle to build something only to sell later. Gonna be a resource drain unless u can figure some income play

+1
There's a good chance the furniture you have won't fit the new space or you'll want something else anyway. And you may not be able to recover the expenses and taxes associated with building in the short-term. Also, putting your furniture in typical rental storage can get damaged / warped. This just happened with my in-laws when we went to help them move their stored furniture that was put in a new facility only a year ago.

[Walt34]

Would a large shed serve the purpose? These are popular in the mid-Atlantic area: Amish Storage Sheds & Custom Built Sheds in PA - Amish Backyard Structures

I lean to agreeing that if it is fine furniture keeping it in a non climate-controlled environment will result in damage so there's no point in doing it.

[RunningBum]

You need a back yard for these sheds, which I assume the beach condo won't have.

I just can't picture what you have in mind for buying a storage warehouse. When I think of warehouse I think of a large industrial building, but you can't need that much room for storing furniture. What I think of for storing furniture is a storage unit, garage, pod, or shed, but you need land to put that on, and then there's the climate control issue.

Does the condo have a spare bedroom you'd be willing to use strictly for furniture storage?

Otherwise I think I'd just pay the rent on a climate controlled storage unit. You won't owe taxes on it, nor directly pay for heat and A/C. Presumably you'd be saving more on income taxes by selling the condo as a primary residence then you're be paying for in storage. I also doubt the resale of a storage structure will be that good as most people are willing to rent. Invest the money you'd have used to buy it to offset your storage rental.

[Sarah in SC]

I'd agree that paring down to the absolute minimum you want to keep and fitting it into a very small climate controlled unit makes more sense. And bring what you can to the condo, because it will store better in regular use than in a unit anyway. And who knows, you may decide you want to stay at the beach after the 5 years is up. Then what?