For many years you’ve been thinking of re-locating. Your brother lives in the States, and for years has been offering you a position in his company but until now it just has never been the right time to move house and country. Many times, you’ve been tempted. First the kids were settling down in school, then they had teenage issues, then you wanted to wait until they went into the army and then you wanted to be there for them throughout their army training, so finally, nearly twenty years down the line, you and your wife have decided it is time to make a new start and head for the Big Apple.
It has always attracted you and you’ve visited many times, but the hassle of moving and re-locating, knowing that it’s not something that you want to do forever, has always been a bit of a problem. You know you definitely want to come back to the magical country of your birth, and then all the practicalities start to kick in.
First question, what will you do with all your state of the art fitted furniture, that cost you a small fortune, but still looks amazing? You can’t take it out with you, as it’s all made-to-measure. What about Aunt Betty’s Grand Piano? Do you want to sell it? Not really. Maybe one day one of the kids will want to play again. you certainly spent enough on piano lessons. You have a beautiful apartment in Jaffa which is full of almost new furniture and top of the market electrical appliances of the highest standard. There is no way you want to leave all this to a tenant, who anyway has his own furniture and would prefer an empty house. So, after a lot of research, let’s take a look at some of the tips which will help anyone looking around for the best long-term storage available in Israel.
So where do you begin?
FIRST MAKE YOUR LISTS
Go through your home, room by room, making lists of keep, throw away or give away, store. What’s store? Get acquainted with the world of storage where your precious belongings are carefully looked after while you’re away so that you or the kids can have them back at any time.
Once you’ve finished the lists and you have some idea of the quantity of items that you need to put away, and the size of them, you can move to the next step.
CHECK OUT THE SERVICE AT DIFFERENT STORAGE COMPANIES
What kind of service does the Company give? Do they speak English? Are they polite and friendly on the phone? Call various companies and see what kind of response you get. If the staff are caring, you know for sure that your valuables are more likely to be well looked after. Ask lots of questions. Find a company that believes that service is one of the most important things they have to offer a client, and when this is a company’s policy, you know that you are going to be well looked after. You know that there is a staff that cares about your items and that all your problems will be taken care of. Need to change the date or the time at the last minute? Can they be flexible so that when you suddenly get a call to say you need to arrive two weeks earlier than originally planned, can your storage company cope with that and be flexible according to your needs?
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Of course, you will need to give the company an accurate picture of what you want to store and for how long, so that they can give you an estimate of how much it will cost. Remember, not all companies are the same. Cheapest isn’t always the best. Some storage centres are situated on what used to be old kibbutzim, (you might still be able to smell the cows!) others have purpose-built buildings with 24 hour security and CCTV. You also need to take into consideration what is included in the price. Do they supply packing cases, boxes, wrapping materials or do you have to supply your own?
Is insurance included or is it an extra?
If an extra, then of course you must find out how much and in order to do so you need to have an idea of the value of your items.
Do you have valuable paintings? Antique furniture? Sculptures and other objets d’art?
And are they going to come and pack it all for you? Or do you want to pack it yourselves? It is certainly worthwhile to get all your valuable items professionally packed, particularly glass and china. You want to open your dinner service at the other end and find it all intact, – so ask a professional to pack for you. We all want value for money. But remember, it’s not just the cheapest company that you’re looking for but more important, a company that gives you added value. To each person that added value has a different meaning. You have to have a clear idea of what it means too you, and what your priorities are.
LOCATION
Where is the Company situated? Is it convenient for you or any members of your family should they need to get access? There’s no point in choosing a storage centre based in Tiberias if you and your family live in Tel Aviv, and you’re looking at 2 hours of traffic jams each way! Is the storage company in a place that has easy access, preferably in the centre of the country or are they situated out in the countryside? All these things matter and will make a difference to you.
SECURITY
How safe are your possessions while you’re away? What about insurance? Is everything properly covered? Are all the units controlled by 24-hour security cameras so you know your merchandise is safe? Of course this will be of great importance to you if you are storing valuable items. Once again, list all the valuables, get professional estimates as to their value, so that you can make sure that you have adequate cover on them all. One broken antique light fitting, and you’ll be so happy you were adequately insured.
TEMPERATURE AND PEST-CONTROL
Once again, temperature and pest-control become particularly important if you are storing books, documents and old photographs. Furniture too can be adversely affected by damp conditions, and therefore it is critical that the temperature is not likely to harm any of your precious possessions. So, check this out if it’s important to you.
Having investigated several companies in Israel, the only one that answered all these needs was Ribua, who have branches in Tel-Aviv, two branches in Petach Tikva, and in Holon. We recommend them over any other company because they give a huge amount of added value, in that service is their first priority. You can be sure that if you’re relocating and needing to store the contents of your home, Ribua will look after everything.
So you can go take that job, with no anxieties about your furniture and treasured possessions. They are being stored in good hands, Ribua’s hands. The best.