Real estate agents are operators of their own businesses. Even if you work for a real estate company, you are responsible for your own sales. This means you need to make sure you have the right tools available to get your job done right, and a self-storage unit can be an integral part of your success. Here are just a few ways you can use a self-storage unit to help your real estate business grow.

Home Staging Supplies

Whether you need to sell a home that is unoccupied or you need to give a building a fresh look, keeping a supply of home staging items at the ready can help to make the property more appealing to potential buyers. You can use these items when you need to take pictures of the property or when you are preparing for an open house event. Keep a sofa, dining table and chairs and a dresser or two in the storage unit for unoccupied homes, and add a freestanding shelving unit to store lamps, wall art and decor pieces you can use to freshen up a dated home. Look for a unit with drive-up access so you can easily load larger items in a truck or van when you need to transport them to and from a home you are listing.

Marketing Storage

As a real estate agent, you might use a lot of marketing materials to help sell homes and build your business. Unfortunately, these items can take up a lot of space in your home or garage. A storage unit offers a handy place to keep these items when they are needed, and it provides a way for you to try out different marketing methods to see which ones make the greatest impact. Place bins along the walls to store sale signs and open house signs, and add freestanding shelves to hold your printed marketing materials, such as brochures and flyers. Consider using one wall of the room as a photography studio, so you can take pictures of your marketing setups for promotional materials. An example would be to place a dresser or table, like one you might find in a home for sale, and place plexiglass brochure holders along with your brochures and business cards. You can use pictures you take of this setup to create fliers advertising your business to potential customers in the neighborhood.

Home Repair Command Center

Sometimes, real estate agents take the initiative to perform small repairs on homes to get them ready for sale. You can use your self-storage unit as a command center for these repairs. Use a freestanding shelving unit to hold paint, primer and paint brushes you can use to bring odd paint colors back to neutral, and place a large tool chest along another wall to house your power tools and hand tools. Store small ladders against a wall with tethers, and consider adding a small bookshelf with DIY instructional books so you have instructions ready for tackling new projects in homes you are listing.

A self-storage unit can be used for a range of other purposes, such as storing your paperwork or simply providing a space to place a spare desk when you want to work away from your home or office. Use these ideas to put a storage unit to work for you and your real estate business.