Real Estate and Storage in Salt Lake City: Why Sellers and Buyers Need Storage

In the high-stress situations that can arise during a real estate transaction, having a storage solution in your back pocket can be crucial. When we decided to take a look at what’s unique about real estate and storage in Salt Lake City, we reached out to one of our local real estate agents. With 13 years of experience and a top 10% performing agent at Keller Williams Salt Lake City, Rich Varga knows what he’s talking about when it comes to real estate.Starting with the neighborhoods he knows best, Rich Varga took us from 9th and 9th to Sugar House to Millcreek to Cottonwood Heights, and the entire Salt Lake Valley. He starts by explaining that “pretty much any seller is looking to save both time and money on anything related to the sale of their home—storage included.”

What kind of storage does a seller need? Well, one of the first decisions a home seller has to make is whether or not someone will occupy the home while it’s on the market. Home staging can be essential for almost any home, but it’s especially true for older homes. Varga explains, “Whether it’s a smaller floor plan or an eccentric layout, many older homes frequently benefit from good home staging.” And from the Avenues and east downtown to Liberty Wells and Sugar House, Salt Lake City is full of historic homes that ooze charm. If it’s determined that the home is better listed and staged while vacant, some kind of storage solution is quite common.

When a buyer is also looking to sell, the potential complications go up exponentially. From financing rules and market uncertainty to the simple fact that the buyer-seller is part of two separate real estate deals, any number of things can go wrong. “It’s not like every buyer or seller ends up needing storage, but it’s always bad news when a real estate transaction goes south at the last minute,” Varga says, “Having storage available on a moment’s notice can be beneficial, for either the buyer or seller.”

Even if everything does go right, the options can feel limited from the start for people looking to buy and sell within a short window. Short-term rentals and temporary living situations offer an attractive workaround, and storage is often a big piece of the puzzle.

It’s a particularly common story in Salt Lake City: Emigration Canyon may be named for the original pioneers, but the city continues to be a popular destination to this day. For years, Salt Lake City has appeared on lists of top cities for young professionals. More recently, the city’s ongoing cultural ascendance has some people saying SLC is the next San Francisco.

At the same time, these young professionals may parlay their early career success into an even bigger promotion based in a different city. When it comes to real estate-based storage, this local trend matters in a big way. Varga tells us that, “in addition to buyers looking to move to Salt Lake City, it’s especially true that sellers who are moving out of state frequently have a need for storage. It’s important to have a plan, whether storage is part of it or not. Know where you’re going to stay while you look for a home. Never sign a lease on a place you haven’t seen. Do the research ahead of time for things like driver’s licenses, insurance, and parking passes.”

Some dream homes are found, but just as many are created. It doesn’t take a real estate professional to know that there’s a concentration of new-home communities in the south and west parts of Salt Lake Valley, especially from South Jordan to the Point of the Mountain. Likewise, major home remodels are another way in which dream homes are created. It’s quite common for buyers to request some work be done to the house prior to closing. There is a ton of gray area between fixer-upper and turn-key ready.

Salt Lake City storage may not be the first thing you think of when the time comes to sell or buy a new home, but it’s often a crucial piece of the puzzle by the time you close the deal and move into or out of your home.