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/

This is the biggest opportunity in self storage since 2008. Last time we were at this stage in the cycle, I was on the cusp of building a $100M+ self storage business. I bought when conditions were almost identical to what we’re seeing today, and now, I’m gearing up to buy even more. But here’s the best part: beginners can get in on this, too. Today, I’m showing you how.

This could be your $100M opportunity if you know what’s coming down the pipeline. 

Things are getting eerily similar to the situation after the Great Financial Crisis (2008). Interest rates are coming down, housing activity is going up, cap rates are compressing, and occupancy rates may be ready to rise again. This was almost exactly how conditions were in the early 2010s when I was heavily building my self storage business. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it with data in this episode.

We’re buying now—and we’re buying a lot. If you’re debating investing in self storage or growing your portfolio, this episode will be crucial for you. I’m putting my money where my mouth is, investing millions of my own capital to grow my portfolio. 

Do not miss this stage of the cycle. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Learn more about Heritage Fund investment opportunities: 

https://go.cedar.cc/faq   

https://go.cedar.cc/welcome

*Accredited investors only. Limited capacity.*

What happens when interest rates spike, self storage demand dips, and REITs start a race to the bottom with rent prices? You’ve got the current state of the self storage industry, with shifting market dynamics that have made things difficult for smaller investors over the last few years. The question now is, where do we go from here?

Interest rates have had a ripple effect throughout the self storage industry, leaving smaller investors wondering how they can build wealth with self storage investing while REITs and private equity have a stranglehold on many major markets. AJ, Travis Morrow, and Lance Watkins break it all down in a session from this year’s SSI Live Event. There’s reason for optimism heading into 2026 and beyond, but investors will need to adapt to major changes if they want to coexist with the bigger players.

Savvy market analysis is more crucial now than ever, and adopting technology is no longer optional—even if you’re investing in rural areas. Fortunately, everyday investors now have access to data that wasn’t available to them just a few years ago. Whether you’re developing or buying self storage facilities, these insights will help shape your strategy going forward and give you an edge in your market!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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Tract IQ: https://tractiq.com/

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

Today’s guests bought six self storage facilities in just four years, all while working full-time jobs, and during a time of rising interest rates. They had zero experience, no self storage background, and have only used their own money. How did they grow so quickly, and what’s the secret to scaling your self storage business? These are the bootstrapped self storage investors to hear from.

In 2020, self storage investments weren’t on Nick and Steven May’s radar. But after hearing an episode of this podcast, they decided it might be their next great opportunity. Luckily, a small vacation market two hours south of them had old, poorly-reviewed facilities around. So they did what everyone with little experience and a desire to invest should do: started calling owners without expectations. One owner was willing to sell, and the ball started rolling.

Fast forward four years from their first purchase, and Nick and Steven have six facilities, all in the same market. They’ve gotten better at negotiating, underwriting self storage, and running their business. How did two guys scale to 150,000+ square feet in self storage space without any prior experience? Today, they’re sharing exactly how they did it. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

Where to find more

📷 Steven’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenmay_realestate/  

🚣 Lake of the Ozarks Self Storage: https://lakeoftheozarksselfstorage.com/

🌳 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/ 

📚 Get my FREE self storage starter pack to learn how to analyze, underwrite, and operate your next storage investment: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/start-podcast 

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

How do you know your first or next self storage investment is worth the money? 

This is how you do self storage analysis in six steps, even if you’ve never invested in storage before. With the most basic of numbers, you can analyze a self storage facility to see if it’s a worthwhile deal. And you don’t need any experience in commercial real estate or self storage underwriting models to do these calculations—you just need some time.

We’ll take you all the way from defining your “buy box” (know what you want to buy) to estimating expenses and revenue, running the numbers, and the extra “margin” we add in every single self storage deal to ensure it’ll be profitable.

Plus, what a good self storage investment looks like and how to secretly get your competitors’ rent prices so you’ll know just how much your facility can bring in.

Your first or next self storage deal is close—let’s make sure it’s a home run!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

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

 📉 TractIQ: https://tractiq.com/    

📑 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/

  📖 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 is the biggest thing to happen to the self storage industry in years. 

Last week, the Fed made their much-anticipated decision to cut rates. In the weeks leading up to the decision, interest rates fell sharply, reigniting the homebuying process for hundreds of thousands of Americans sitting on the sidelines. Rate cuts and mortgage rate declines will have momentous effects on the self storage market, and, I believe, will usher in a new cycle for self storage investing and wealth creation.

We, up until recently, have been going through a self storage recession. What most self storage investors don’t know is that some 40% of our customers come from moving alone. Raise interest rates, stop home purchases, and you cut off the lifeblood of the storage business. But now, that’s changing—and it’s changing in a major way.

In this episode, I’m going to explain why the Fed made their decision now (and whether they were too late), what lower interest rates mean for the self storage industry as a whole and your facility’s occupancy, and what I’m doing to prepare for this next cycle.

This is going to be HUGE.

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

—

Sign Up for the Self Storage Income Newsletter! - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/ 

📑 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/