2025 was a pivotal year for the self storage industry—but 2026 is about to be even bigger. We could get opportunities we haven’t seen in 15 years, but the buying window won’t last long. We’re taking full advantage, and in today’s episode, we’re outlining our exact 2026 plan.

We’re ringing in the New Year by sharing what we bought, sold, refinanced, and decided to hold in 2025. In the middle of 2025, things started to change—quickly. We’ve been buying up self storage as fast as we possibly can, because if you knew what we do, you wouldn’t be waiting on the sidelines. Interest rates are gradually falling, Americans are ready to move again, and storage demand could be rising. But sellers…they’re tired. The past few years have been hard, and you can take advantage.

The buying window is wide open, but it won’t last long. And this isn’t just blind faith. I’ll share the facts that tee up 2026 as a crucial year for growing wealth in self storage, plus how small investors can get ahead and build massive wealth once the “explosion” coming for storage starts to count down. And yes, I’ll even share a hint at my 2026 outlook and when I expect opportunities to reach their peak. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Join AJ’s Self Storage Income Community!  - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/inner-circle 

Self Storage Income 315 - Self Storage Could Be the Biggest Winner of Lower Interest Rates - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/podcasts/self-storage-income-2/episodes/2149089861 

Imagine walking up to a self storage facility and renting a unit from your phone. Next month, you need to upgrade, and you can do it immediately, again from your phone. When you move out, you schedule a date from your phone and walk away. This is what automated self storage looks like, and if your facility doesn’t sound like this example, you could be in for a big wake-up call.

Alec Peeples from Storeganise saw this in real-time. After living abroad in Asia for 10 years, he saw what true “manless” self storage automation looks like. No full-time managers, just simple move-ins and move-outs for customers. Now, Storeganise works with over 1,500 facilities in more than 50 countries, and Alec gets to see what the future looks like before it gets to the U.S. 

In this episode, Alec is breaking down the two things you need to implement to increase your revenue and lower your expenses, how Asian self storage facilities are years ahead of their American counterparts, and the exact tech stack you can start using today to automate your self storage facility, do less, and make more. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Connect with Alec on LinkedIn! - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-peeples/ 

Storeganise - https://storeganise.com/ 

Check out this episode on self storage in Brazil! Self Storage Income 263 - The Man Who Taught an Entire Country to Start Using Self Storage - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/podcasts/self-storage-income-2/episodes/2148876376 

The self storage industry has finally bottomed out, and today’s guest believes there are more deals now than ever. He’s seizing the moment and buying self storage facilities left and right because in 18 months, these deals could completely dry up—leaving many wishing they had invested in self storage.

In this episode, Conner and George sit down with Ben Gottfredson, who, just a few years ago, depleted his life savings to build his first self storage facility. Since then, he has started his own private equity fund and scaled his self storage business to 15 facilities. But the truth is that Ben would still be stuck on his second deal if he hadn’t developed soft skills and forged invaluable partnerships that helped him rapidly grow his net worth and create lucrative investing opportunities for many close friends and family members.

Today, he’ll show you how to do just that—build out your network and teams in a way that allows you to grow your portfolio as quickly as possible. Ben also opens up about the blunders he made on past deals, from buying while the market was at its peak to cutting corners when stabilizing his facilities, so you don’t repeat his costly mistakes!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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🔵 Join Inner Circle https://www.selfstorageincome.com/inner-circle 

▶️ Buying Your First Facility in a Small Town w/ Ben Gottfredson | SSI Podcast #217 - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/podcasts/self-storage-income-2/episodes/2148265195 

🚛 Big Storage Ventures - https://www.instagram.com/bigstorageventures 

Self storage investing isn’t always smooth sailing, but the market tends to reward those who stay the course. From wild construction-site break-ins to complex newspaper-building conversions, this self storage investor has seen it all—yet he’s still built a multimillion-dollar storage business that supported his family after a health incident took away his main source of income.

In today’s episode, AJ and Conner are chatting with Wayde Elliott, founder of StoreIT. When spinal fusion surgery forced him to leave his successful dentistry practice of 20 years, Wayde turned to the only backup plan he had: self storage. Since going all-in, he has scaled to roughly a dozen self storage facilities across California and Oregon.

Despite taking on ground-up developments and complex conversion projects, sharp self storage analysis, collaboration, and persistence have helped him carve out his own corner of the market where even REITs struggle to compete. Stay tuned for not only a wealth of sage advice but also one of the most bizarre break-in stories you’ll ever hear—involving secret tunnels, missing cameras, and an exhausting cat-and-mouse chase!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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🔸 StoreIT: https://storeit.com

📸 Wayde’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waydeelliottdmd

🔵 Join Inner Circle: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/inner-circle

🌳 Work with someone experienced in self storage loans at Live Oak Bank! https://www.liveoakbank.com/business-loans/self-storage/

🎙️ Do you have a great story to share on the SSI or AJ Osborne podcasts? You can now apply here! https://form.asana.com/?k=TGU88eU0bFTFW1iHcckuTA&d=1203571084143207

📉 Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: https://cedar.cc/invest 

After one self storage investment, Darren and Jyoti Osten knew they wanted out of residential real estate. They had bought rental properties, a fixer-upper, and an apartment building, but none were as profitable or passive as self storage investing. Now, six years later, they have four self storage facilities and a small, but stable, portfolio that they run from over 1,000 miles away. 

When a property manager brought Darren and Jyoti a self storage deal at a time they were tired of the toilets and tenants of rentals, they made the leap. They loved it so much they bought one more, then another, then decided to self-manage, and buy another one. They knew nothing about self storage management from the start, but quickly were able to raise rents, get higher-quality tenants, and do a big self storage expansion on one of their facilities. 

Today, they’re sharing the easy moves they made to raise their facilities’ rents, get more revenue, increase security, and fix delinquency. Plus, how they 2x-3x-ed one facility’s value with an expansion project, giving them much higher revenue. You can do this, too, even if you’re working full-time and even if you have no experience.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Juniper Investors - https://juniperinvestors.com/index.html 

Join the Self Storage Income Community!  - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/learn 

Financing is a necessary hurdle to clear when buying a self storage facility, and in this market, it’s more crucial than ever to explore all your self storage loan options and get creative when structuring deals. The good news is, you likely have even more negotiating power today than in years past!

In this episode, AJ and Conner are pulling back the curtain and sharing multiple financing strategies you can use to fund your next self storage deal. First, they dig into seller financing and share the three-option approach they use to win over hesitant owners. Then, they discuss Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that, when done right, allow you to put as little as 10% down. They also cover several methods of raising private capital, from pitching opportunities to close friends and family to bringing on a hard money lender.

With these financing strategies, you may not even need the bank to get into a proven asset class like self storage. Once your self storage business is stabilized, follow AJ and Conner’s refinancing tips to lock in great terms on a long-term loan!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Links: 

🌳 Work with someone experienced in self storage loans at Live Oak Bank! https://www.liveoakbank.com/business-loans/self-storage/

🎙️ Do you have a great story to share on the SSI or AJ Osborne podcasts? You can now apply here! https://form.asana.com/?k=TGU88eU0bFTFW1iHcckuTA&d=1203571084143207

📖 Get AJ's book that teaches you everything he knows about self-storage https://a.co/d/aRSKcSq

📉 Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: https://cedar.cc/invest 

This husband and wife skipped rental properties and went straight to self storage investing. They kept hearing the regrets from other investors saying “we wish we scaled faster.” So, why wait to scale to bigger properties when you can just buy them from the start? That’s exactly what Matthew Rojas and Jingwen Ni did, and they have zero regrets.

It took Matthew and Jingwen two years to find the perfect self storage investment. But, the waiting was worth it. They landed a seller financed, completely full, storage facility with 30%-40% room to increase rents. How did it go with the current customers? They’ll share the entire story from finding the first facility to negotiating, raising rents, and automating it with software and smart upgrades.

But they didn’t stop. Now, they have two self storage facilities—the newest being a high cash flow “land lease,” that few storage owners even know is possible. Beginners, this is the repeatable model to follow to get your first, second, or third self storage facility!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Join the Self Storage Income Community  - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/ssi-membership 

Go Beyond Properties - https://gobeyondproperties.com/ 

You’ve found a self storage deal, but to get to the closing table, you’re also going to need a lender. For many new investors, self storage financing is the most intimidating part of the process, but in this episode, Conner and George will share everything you need to know to get your first or next self storage facility fully funded.

The truth is that self storage is one of the least-defaulting asset classes today, and with one simple but crucial mindset shift, you’ll stop feeling like you’re “asking for money” and start confidently presenting attractive opportunities to banks, partners, and investors. You’ll learn how to speak the lender’s language and the keys to getting approved for a self storage loan.

We’ll also walk you through a checklist of essential documents, tips for analyzing self storage deals, and resources that will connect you with the best lenders. Plus, we’ll show you how to use debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) as a powerful negotiation tool and how to craft a business plan that gives lenders the confidence to partner with you.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Learn More About Feasibility Studies - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Email [email protected] to Be Connected to a Lender

Self Storage Analysis 101: How to Underwrite a Self Storage Facility - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4u4-OJbhnA 

Live Oak Bank - https://www.liveoak.bank/ 

You can live hundreds of miles away from your self storage facility and still run it successfully. Just hear from Bill DeWaal and Korbin Smoot, founders of Better Self Storage. They’ve got 19 facilities across multiple states and run self storage management to perfection with a team of VAs, a director of operations, and without having to fix, overlock, or inspect a single unit.

You can invest from anywhere in the country, or even anywhere in the world, and this is how you do it.

Bill and Korbin are what a solid partnership looks like. Korbin is chasing deals while Bill is making sure the facilities make sense. Their formula clearly works, as now they have 19 facilities and are experts in self storage remote management. Plus, they’ll share what a great partner looks like, so you don’t get into the self storage business with a bad actor.

Don’t know what to buy when sellers are still asking too much, but the numbers won’t budge? Bill and Korbin define their buy box for small, scalable remote facilities, and how they easily increased revenue by 300% at one facility, and the impressive outsourcing they do so these two can focus on building their portfolio, not managing units. Plus, underwriting (analysis) tweaks they’ve made to ensure they’re getting a deal, not a dud, and how to compete with the REITs who drop prices fast and furiously. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Join AJ’s Self Storage Income Inner Circle - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/inner-circle 

Better Self Storage - https://www.betterselfstorage.com/ 

Korbin's Contact Information: [email protected], 801-505-2334

Bill’s Contact Information: 801-910-0594

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🌳 Work with someone experienced in self storage loans at Live Oak Bank! We seriously love them. https://www.liveoakbank.com/business-loans/self-storage/ 

📑 Our Self-Storage Feasibility Studies will help you speed up the process in understanding markets, potential risks, and analyzing the facility itself.  https://cedar.cc/feasibility-studies/ 

📖 Sign up for Our Weekly Newsletter: https://ajosborne.com/newsletter

You’re about to make an offer on a self storage investment. You’ll need two things: an LOI (letter of intent) and a PSA (purchase and sale agreement). You may need to use one or the other or both, depending on your situation, but not having these two contracts could be stopping you from getting your first or next deal done. 

Today, AJ and Conner explain precisely what a PSA and LOI in real estate are, the key difference between these two crucial contracts, and how to use them to make offers on facilities that owners can’t ignore. This is how the pros get self storage deals done. No verbal offers. No handshakes. This is when it gets legit.

You found a self storage investment you like…what do you do now? Do you use an LOI vs. PSA first in commercial real estate? We’ll walk through which contract to use when, what to include in an LOI and PSA, the contingencies to add that ensure a seller can’t wrongfully back out, and why you always negotiate with the seller before you get one of these signed.

The next time you and a seller sign these agreements, you’ll be on your way to your next self storage deal.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Sign Up for My Newsletter Here:  https://ajosborne.com/newsletter

🌳 Work with someone experienced in self storage loans at Live Oak Bank! We seriously love them. https://www.liveoakbank.com/business-loans/self-storage/

📑 Our Self-Storage Feasibility Studies will help you speed up the process in understanding markets, potential risks, and analyzing the facility itself.  https://cedar.cc/feasibility-studies/