If you are shopping around for a storage facility for your belongings, make sure that you keep an eye out for the five signs listed below that the facility takes keeping your goods secure seriously.

#1 Fence

The first thing you want to pay attention to is if a fence goes around the entire storage facility. If possible, drive or walk around the entire facility to confirm the presence of a fence all the way around the facility. A fully fenced facility shows you that the storage company is serious about monitoring who enters and leaves the premises, and it reduces the chances that someone could easily walk off with belongings that are not their own.

#2 Password-Protected Gate

Second, pay attention to the level of security that is present when you actually drive onto the facility. The storage facility should have a gate the everyone has to pass through who wants to drive in and out of the area where the actual storage units are represented. The general parking lot should not be inside where the storage units are located; it should be outside of the gate.

A regular gate that anyone can open does not give your belongings that much security. Make sure that the gate is password-protected in some way, either through a code that one must enter or through a swipe card.

#3 Monitored Entryways

Third, make sure that all the entry ways are as secure as the main gate that you can drive through. All smaller gates or doors that allow you access to the storage facility should also be protected by a code or require a swipe card to get through. This level of security will make the storage facility a lot less likely target of theft.

#4 Security Cameras

Having a secure premise is great, but very thrifty criminals may be able to secure a code or steal a swipe card. To really ensure that everyone's belongings are safe, there should be security cameras set up throughout the premise. These security cameras should record everyone entering and leaving the facility, and should be positioned in such a way as to allow one to see what unit one is entering. That way, if the security of your unit is ever breached, it will be easy to figure out who did it.

#5 On-Site Roaming Security

Finally, you want to check and see if a security guard is on premises 24 hours a day who walks around the facility and patrols it. You don't just want a guard who monitors the security cameras; you want an on-site presence that helps discourage theft.

If you see all of the signs above when you tour a self-storage facility, there is a very strong chance that your goods and belongings will be extremely secure during their time in storage.