DD20 needs to store her furniture for few months before she decides her apartment lease situation for the next year. She has one bedroom furniture plus sofa and few more items from the living room that she shares with roommate. We have never used storage before so looking for recommendations on reputable companies in San Francisco. She will need them to pack up large items like big standing mirror, floor lamps, etc before they take it to storage. I honestly think it will cost more to store then just dispose all her stuff but it all good quality items and only been used for one year and she is not ready to do so. Thank you
Eons ago, when we were I between two houses in the greater Seattle area, we stored our stuff in one of these:
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There is a moving company called flat rate movers (flatrate.com). My D used them in NY. They moved her out - put her stuff briefly in storage - and moved her in when there was a gap in dates between her leases. I believe they gave her some time free for storage. They have a good reputation (at least in NYC) and a fair process and rates. I checked and they do operate in SF - so could be an option and, at a minimum, will give her a sense of price and whether it makes sense to store - she would just call/email and go over her list of items with them.
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When S needed to store after he graduated and before he moved to start his job, he sold a lot of bulkier items and stored some in inexpensive storage place near his LA campus. He got a free month storage and then after D moved back to campus, I believe he stored some things with her before moving some more things and selling the rest.
Some rental places offer free pick up or use of vehicle to get items to storage. Have seen pods used a lot but no personal experience.
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Thank you!
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PODS and PackRat have the option of storing their containers in one of their facilities. When I used PackRat I was able to find through their site a group of guys who loaded the big things for me. I took care of the smaller stuff myself.
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A few years ago I had to temporarily put some of my parents’ items in storage as they moved into assisted living. I was not capable of moving/transporting heavy furniture by myself. I was able to hire some workers to do the moving/transportation of the big stuff to a storage unit. Later, when I was ready to move some of it to my home, several states away, I rented a truck but again hired some workers to show up at the storage facility and carry the furniture into the truck. I hired another set of workers to unload the truck and carry the furniture into my house.
I found the workers by doing an internet search, reading reviews, etc. Also, some storage facilities will have a list of available movers for hire.
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Thank you everyone for great suggestions. I am trying to evaluate different options. If we decide to bring her furniture to our house six hours drive away, is U-Haul still the most popular way to move things or something else came to market since last time we moved?
My friend used u-haul locally to transport things from one rental to another. She paid by the day plus mileage. Some folks are/were reportedly using uhaul when rental car rates were crazy high.
To help our kids get their gear to storage facility, we just used a minivan (it was a medium sized car we rented via Costco website). It fit everything we needed. The kids deconstructed ikea furniture to fit better.
In this case, Uhaul probably makes sense. I will make a note for other folks that for quick local transport some Home Depot stores rent trucks by the hour.
In my opinion, you can use a warehousing service to pack, store, and ship your furniture. There are many options for warehouse storage. Your loved one will want to store her furniture in a unit that is climate controlled, to help prevent damage to her items. Several warehouses provide Extra Space Storage, have climate controlled options. These warehouses typically offer larger units than standard storage facilities, and the oversized units can be used to store everything from furniture to a car.
I stored once and promised never to do so again if the time is indeterminate.
You say it’s “between leases.” Do you know if this is for 2 months, 5 months, or however long your daughter decides because she has a place to stay until she finds a place and doesn’t have a specific deadline?
The price of storage has really increased over the past decade. A decent size unit can cost ~$200-$300/month in regular America, so that’s probably $400-$600/month in SF. 
Unless we’re talking unusually expensive furniture, I would avoid anything greater than a 4month period. At six months, we’re talking upwards of $2400. If she goes a year, it could approach $5000, and that’s not including the cost of having someone move the furniture into the unit, then out of the unit into her new place.
Sell it and put that money in a Furniture savings account. Then deposit $450 a month into that account every month she is without an apartment of her own. When she gets a new apartment, she’ll have money to help buy new furniture. And nothing says NEW APARTMENT more than NEW FURNITURE. If this takes longer than 6 months, she’ll like having new furniture a lot more than moving old furniture into her new place.
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It looks like 2 or 3 months between leases. She is trying to sell big items like couch and chairs, but will still have bedroom furniture to put to storage. It is not easy to sell used furniture even in a good shape. She plans to hire someone to come, do all the packing and take stuff to storage.
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I believe that renting a storage unit would be a good idea. It is not a good idea to dispose of it. Because, as you stated, all of the belongings are of high quality. So it is preferable to keep them and store them in a storage unit. Using a storage unit is a good idea in my opinion. Look for one with security features. They are found in the majority of the storage units. Isn’t it just for a short time? Select the storage unit option.
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U Box through U Haul is smaller and cheaper than PODS and has storage options