Self Storage Income

Today, we’re going over how to buy a storage facility, even if you’re a complete beginner with zero experience in self storage investing. From pinpointing your purchase price to closing and finally getting the facility under your management, we’ll walk through the six beginner steps anyone can take to buy a self storage facility in 2024. If you’re ready to buy your first self storage investment, these steps MUST be followed!

Haven’t found a facility to buy? Tune into last week’s episode, where we went over exactly how to find off-market self storage facilities with the most profit potential. Once you’ve found the deal, the fun really starts. In this episode, AJ and Conner share how they come up with offer prices, why they NEVER trust a broker’s “pro forma” number at first glance, and the contracts you need to have ready when you want to get a deal done.

But before you close, there’s still work to do. We’ll discuss due diligence, how to exit a deal when things aren’t what they seem, closing, and what to do as soon as you send over the money so you can hit the ground running on your first facility.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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

How to Value a Self Storage Facility - Don't Overpay!  

Enjoy this podcast? Leave us a great review wherever you listen! 

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 

In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most frequent questions we get: how to find self storage deals. 

We’ll share the five-step guide AJ uses to find self storage deals in 2024 and show YOU how to copy it so you can get your next home run off-market self storage deal. If you’re waiting for your first or next self storage facility, this is EXACTLY where to start!

You’ve heard us talk about buying and managing self storage facilities, but where do we even find the ones we want to buy? Unlike rental properties, there isn’t some mass listing site that shows every self storage facility for sale (although many companies have tried). Most self storage deals are done off-market or pre-listing through a broker, meaning that you never even have the chance to see the deals getting done.

If you want to learn the expert secrets on how we’re finding self storage deals in today’s highly competitive market, bring a pad and some paper and copy our strategy.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Enjoy this podcast? Leave us a great review wherever you listen! 

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 

Everyone wants to know how to be a leader. They want the big business, the money, the ability to turn a scrappy team into top performers. But here’s the reality—99% of people don’t have what it takes to become a leader because behind the private jets and huge deals getting done are mountains of failure that most people will never see. So, do you have what it takes to become the next great leader?

In this episode, we’ll discuss the three levels of leadership. If you run a self storage facility, you’re likely at one of these levels. Whether you have 100 or 10,000 doors, you need these leadership skills to take your business to the next level and, more importantly, weather the storms that come with leading a team to greatness. Let’s get into it!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Enjoy this podcast? Leave us a great review wherever you listen! 

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 

The supply of housing is directly tied to the demand for self storage. The more people are moving, the more people tend to need a storage unit. But what happens if the housing market is being crazy, like it is today?   

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The housing crisis is not just a matter of super high prices. Since price is a function of supply and demand, and the demand of homes is higher than ever, the last piece is: supply! You solve the crisis by building more houses. There's not a low enough interest rate or tax benefit that can magically add houses onto the market.

How does this affect storage? Let's break it down!

Enjoy this podcast? Leave us a great review wherever you listen! 

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 

Big REITs can raise and lower prices whenever it suits them - but is this actually the best way to treat your customers? We don't think so.

Instead, we focus on operations - how can we improve, so the customer gets a better product??

Our operations team has been visiting our facilities to look at what we can do to improve the value we provide to customers. Are we missing a piece of equipment that would make cleaning easier? Are we making sure we respond to customers' concerns in a timely manner? Then, how do we pass this feedback along from customers to employees to managers? 

These are all critical areas of day-to-day business that hugely impact our customers' experience. This is how we compete with the big REITs. They have the means to slash prices that many operators cannot afford. But what you CAN do is to IMPROVE the value you provide for the money. 

If $90 can get you a bigger unit for the same cost as a smaller one, making this known to your customers when they're looking to purchase can be a huge win and help you stand out from the REITs that move you in at $50 then jack up the prices in a few months. As a customer, which company would you think more positively about? 

We talked about the Pros & Cons of buying out of state in a recent YouTube video, but in this episode, we dive deeper into the ins and outs - the caveats, the behind-the-scenes - of how we manage our facilities despite them being hundreds of miles away.

Enjoy this podcast? Leave us a great review wherever you listen! 

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 

Self Storage was hit during the COVID-19 shutdown. But during that time, storage saw a surge in demand, which put it ahead of many other asset classes. It reacted in a way that many thought not possible in a recession.  

But the problem is, the industry reacted very strangely. There became an assumption that you can succeed in storage with very little effort or improvement. As the economy shifts back towards the pre-pandemic normal, this approach HAS to change. The market will not simply work in your favor "just because."  

In this episode, we talk with Dane Elefante about how the industry has shifted in recent years, but more importantly, how the shutdown impacted the mindset of storage owners and operators. And how that no longer works today.  

Dane is the Chief Operating Officer at Platinum Storage Group. He has 16 years of commercial real estate experience in the self-storage property sector, and leads the firm’s data analytics business to integrate property-level, portfolio-level, and market data to inform sub-market location and design decisions.

Learn more about Platinum here: https://platinumstorage.com/ 

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 

It's real. It's talk. It's Real Talk w/ AJ.

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest

Storage tech has not kept up with the times - just think: how easy was it to book a storage unit vs booking a flight? Or ordering off of Amazon? 

Large companies have condition us, the consumers, to accept new methods of paying for goods and services. We have contactless payments, Apple/Google Pay, Amazon Prime Two-Day shipping, and many more. But what does this have to do with self storage?

We brought back Lance Watkins, the CEO of Tenant Inc., who specializes in self storage management software and technology. His expertise in the field allows him to point out several common weak points that the storage industry suffers from compared to other businesses today. 

Stroage operators are missing out on all the technology advancements of the last decade. It's now possible to rent your facility completely contactless, cancel or move out of your unit, and have that listing be reposted to your website for a new renter. 

How are YOU using tech to make your facility more efficient? As a customer, is it REALLY easier or did it just complicate your life? You have to think about this when you buy, invest, or even rent from a storage facility. 

Check out Lance's company Tenant Inc. (who is also a regular podcast sponsor here!) - https://www.tenantinc.com/

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest

Cell towers play an integral role in our modern world - but they also impact the self storage industry directly. We bought a facility years ago that had a cell tower onsite. We put $800K down, but in the first 2-3 years, we received $500K back utilizing the cell tower on our property. 

Today, we bring back Hugh Odom, co-founder & president of Vertical Consultants. He works with property owners presented with cell tower leasing opportunities. Understanding the true value of that lease agreement can impact not only where the tower is, but your surrounding property as well. Hugh brings his years of experience as a lawyer from AT&T - he knows the book inside and out.

Cell towers can be a GREAT play - BUT the people in the mobile technology industry know exactly what they're doing - and how they can beat you. 

So how does a property owner take on this kind of company? This, and much more in this week's episode of Self Storage Income! 

Check out Hugh's business here! https://www.celltowerleaseexperts.com/ 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest

Like any industry, self storage has recently adopted the idea of "promotional pricing." Think "first month's rent" for housing or "device trade in credit" for buying the newest smartphone. At some point, it is just too good to be true. 

There's a fine line between "promotional" and "false advertising." Attracting the right customer base - and getting them in the door the RIGHT way - is what Conner and Jesse Harmon talk about in this episode of Self Storage Income.

Jesse recently got back from the Tenant Inc. Innovation Conference, where there was a lot of discussion on customer acquisition, customer service, and the role of AI in revenue management. The overwhelming consensus in the industry (particularly the REITs), is to lower prices, get people renting, and then jack up prices. But that takes the choice away from the consumer (and as a consumer, you may feel swindled or ripped off. Rightly so!). Questionable ethics aside, is this really a sustainable long-term strategy? Is there any other way? 

Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/

Check out Storelocal!

https://www.storelocal.com/

Ready to buy storage? Have your deals personally evaluated by AJ and our team! 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest