Self Storage Income

Self storage investing ISN’T only for the United States. Our neighbors to the north might be a way better pick for your next self storage facility than down here in the States. Need proof? Today’s guest, Jason Koonin from Bluebird Self Storage, is getting higher occupancy and rents and spending $0 on ads with his Canadian self storage facilities. How is he doing it, especially since big facilities in the States are fighting tooth and nail to get any customer in the door? His self storage marketing strategy is a little bit different…

First, how does someone new to self storage go from having zero experience to building A-class facilities across a different country? Jason shares how his self storage companies exploded in 2020 and 2021 and how they managed to survive 2022 and 2023. Not only that, Jason realized something that most self storage operators get completely wrong about customer acquisition—you DON’T need to pay for ads…at all! Through strategic self storage SEO, he’s bringing in customers at a fraction of the cost while most of his competitors are still trying to outrank him.

We’ll also speak about the significant differences between Canadian self storage investing and American self storage investing and why now may be the best time to get into the Canadian market as their population grows, with VERY few self storage facilities to match the demand.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Forge Building episode

Sunbird Storage

Storagely

Building storage units is not easy, but if you listen to this episode, you’ll be more educated on the self storage development process than most investors out there. If you’re thinking of building a storage facility, this information is essential for you to make the best design decisions and avoid financial pitfalls that could sink your project before it even gets off the ground.

Hamish Bell and Melissa Anderson from Forge Building Company join Conner today to talk about the self storage industry and what’s happening with development in 2024. With interest rates still high, more projects are being abandoned, but does that make now a bad time to build self storage facilities? What happens when the supply gets taken up due to all the delayed and canceled projects from today? We’re sharing our thoughts on this episode.

Plus, we’ll be getting into the details of building storage facilities, from prices to designing and planning, getting the city on board before you break ground, pitfalls to avoid, and the process you must go through to begin, whether you’re a new investor or someone with previous development experience. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Build with Forge

Email Forge: [email protected] 

These two business school graduates may have cracked the code for self storage in big cities. By converting apartment tenant storage lockers into full-blown “micro” self storage facilities, tenants renting tiny units can easily walk a couple of blocks to store their bulkier items, WITHOUT paying the premium of storing at one of the big REITs much farther away. This duo has been so successful that they’ve scaled to sixty locations fast, and they’re not stopping anytime soon.

Alex Harman and Peter Smyth, founders of Local Locker and White Label Storage, realized how profitable self storage could be when they were in business school. The problem? Like most students, they had very little money to go out and buy a self storage facility. After struggling to find convenient storage in their own market (New York City), they wondered if they could turn apartment basements into “micro” facilities for tenants like them. They threw together a rough and ready prototype facility, and…it worked!

Now, with sixty facilities under the Local Locker brand and another sixty or so being managed by their team, they’ve tapped into the true success of small self storage. Today, I’m talking to them about how they started, the tech stack they use to run these “micro” facilities,” the operational problems they’ve had to solve, and why tiny storage units are crucial for dense cities. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Local Locker

White Label Storage

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Courtney Galyan has worn many hats. He’s been a real estate broker, worked in development, and even owned a pizza franchise. All of those made good money, but the problem was his time was being slowly sucked away. He wanted the “passive” income real estate provided along with the freedom NOT to have to be on-site, running the show every single day. The self storage business, although overlooked by most investors, was Courtney’s lifeline.

After driving around a popular lake town and looking for facilities, Courtney and his business partner quickly realized how high the demand for storage was and how poorly most of the facilities were run. Through a commercial broker friend, they secured their first self storage deal, and it was exactly what they were looking for.

Now, less than a decade later, Courtney has over 750,000 square feet of self storage—a massive amount for any investor to tackle. With eleven facilities across the South and the Midwest, Courtney has had to bob and weave through hot markets (2018-2022) and slowdowns (post-pandemic). He’s made some mistakes and learned some crucial lessons along the way he’s sharing today that any investor, even brand new ones, can take to heart to scale their facilities faster and get ready for this next market cycle. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Resolute Ventures Group

Give Courtney a Call: 317-995-2187

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Do you know what makes you money in the self storage business? Management! If you get your management and operations right, you’ll see your revenues jump, your occupancy rates increase, and less turnover from your paying customers. After running our $250,000,000 self storage business, we’ve learned a thing or two about making a facility perform the best (and what makes the most money).

Conner is back this week to walk through ten crucial self storage management tips beginners can use to make their facilities more successful. We’ll hit on increasing revenue, why occupancy ISN’T as important as you think, the metrics you must be tracking, and why thinking of ways to fail makes you more successful.

With the storage industry becoming more competitive, this is something you CANNOT afford to drop the ball on. Get this right, and you’ll scale your self storage investment portfolio faster and with fewer headaches. Get it wrong, and you could be stuck with expensive, underperforming facilities until you course-correct. Whether you’ve got one facility, twenty, or are just starting to invest in self storage, these tips could get YOU to the next level.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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This might be the biggest, best self storage conversion we’ve ever done. We turned a $4.5 million bankrupt building into a $30 million self storage facility. And here’s the thing: we could have NEVER done this if we were building from scratch. This was a needle in a haystack, and today, we’re sharing how we found it, why other investors overlooked it, and the problems, profits, and lessons from it.

Not only was this building massive, but it’s also now one of the most tech-first self storage facilities we’ve ever owned. We had to be really patient with this one. It took FOUR YEARS to get this facility open, and now, we can finally discuss the final numbers and details with you. If you want to make HUGE wealth-building leaps, then stick around because we’re talking all things self-storage conversion and the traps to avoid on your next deal.

We’ll explain how we picked up this deal for far less than it should have cost, why we went a million dollars over budget, why we changed our layout and made more money because of it, and how we did it all while storage rates were falling, interest rates were rising, and investors were running away from big deals in fear. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Enter our survey for a chance to win a signed copy of AJ's NEW book! 

Listen to the AJ Osborne Podcast 

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Watch Our Videos on This Conversion 

Owning a storage facility is not for the faint of heart. Yeah, you’ve got the everyday headaches of late payments, locked-out customers, and the occasional pest problem, but that’s NOT what we’re talking about today. Conner is flying solo on today’s show to share some real footage of what’s (only recently) gone wrong at our facilities. And if you’re looking for your first self storage investment, you CAN’T miss this.

What happens when someone is living in a unit? Or, even better, what happens when they burn down your units while they’re living there? How about a trash pickup truck smashing through your front gate? Trailer theft? Tenant-on-tenant vehicular damage? We’ve got it all in today’s show and have the photos and videos to prove it!

Want to know what it’s REALLY like owning a storage facility? Then don’t miss this episode. Plus, if you’re a storage operator who wants to see how the biggest and best facilities take care of huge headaches like these, stick around for Connor’s tips toward the end! 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Inner Circle 

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The self storage industry is changing. Back during the Great Recession, small self storage investments tanked. Their revenues fell off a cliff, customers consistently went without paying, and there were no buyers or banks to bail out the owners. Since then, self storage investing has changed in a big way. REITs are growing with towering self storage facilities everywhere in big cities, and their next big target? Small self storage investments.

This poses an interesting opportunity for inventors: if you get in early enough, your facility could see a massive increase in value and even interest from a REIT. So, what should you be doing NOW to capitalize on this coming change in the self storage industry?

Small self storage investing expert Jeremiah Boucher, founder of Patriot Holdings, joins AJ and Conner LIVE to go over the opportunities, threats, and “landmines” to watch out for when buying a small self storage facility—which could be your first or next investment! Plus, Jeremiah even shares EXACTLY what you should do TODAY to a small facility to increase its value before the REIT next door comes knocking. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Finding Your Edge: How to Win at the Game of Commercial Real Estate Investing

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At just twenty-seven years old, Dillon Leonard has reached financial freedom. How’d he do it? By tenaciously identifying, acquiring, and improving self storage facilities. Within four years, he’s built his self storage business to 800 doors, and he’s done it all by buying storage units in small towns that you’ve probably never heard of. How did he succeed so quickly, and what does he do that sets him apart from the competition? He’s sharing his “simple” secrets today!

Dillon had one goal—to reach financial freedom so he could spend time with his family. While working as a firefighter, he began building a residential real estate portfolio. One day (ironically), a tenant burned his property down. Dillon had it with tenants and toilets and realized self storage was the business he truly wanted to be in.

If you’re just getting started in self storage investing, Dillon delivers a masterclass on finding, acquiring, and running small facilities. If you follow his lead and put in the work, you, too, can reach financial freedom in just a few years! 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Growing Wealth in Self-Storage 2.0

Connect with Dillon

Looking for off-market self storage for sale? Wondering how to get around the high down payment self storage investing requires? How do you measure demand for an area you’ve never invested in? Today, AJ and Conner are answering some of the most commonly asked self storage investing questions so you can get your first or next facility even faster. Think of this as a “Self Storage Investing for Beginners” FAQ session as we get into the nitty-gritty of finding deals, measuring demand, raising down payments, increasing revenue, and more!

If you’re still searching for your first facility, worry not. AJ details the exact method he used to get his first small off-market self storage facilities and how to get an owner to ask YOU to buy the property from them. We’ll also get into measuring demand and whether you should use software or go “secret shopping.” Will a ten-percent down loan pencil out for your next facility? And speaking of down payments, how do you raise the six-figure sum you’ll most likely need to buy your first self storage investment? 

We’re answering all those questions and a whole lot more in this episode! 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Growing Wealth in Self-Storage 2.0

Episode 250. The Self Storage Industry is Starting to “Thaw” (Take Advantage Now!)

How to Find Off-Market Self Storage Deals in ANY Market

My Most Profitable Self Storage Investing Strategy (with numbers)