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 buy your first self storage facility even if you have zero experience  Calculating your purchase price and why you CAN’T trust the market  What brokers will tell you to convince you to buy a facility that ISN’T worth it  LOIs (letter of intent) and PSAs (purchase and sale agreement) and when to use them Everything you need to do during your “due diligence” timeline to confirm the deal is worth it How to ensure a smooth transition when you finally take over your first facility!  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: How to find your first or next self storage investment, no matter what market you’re in Building your “buy box” and how to know what you want your first or next facility to look like The geographic “opportunities” that point to a solid self storage investing market  How to “rank” the facilities in your market to see which has the highest profit potential  The ONE thing you need to bring to EVERY broker in your area if you want self storage deals sent to YOU How long it could take for you to get your first self storage investment under contract 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: The three levels of leadership and why 99% of people won’t make it to the top Why you MUST be comfortable with failing if you want to grow your business  What to do when one of your team members/employees is failing  Hiring, firing, and how to tell if one bad employee is ruining your business  Putting the business first and taking yourself out of the decision-making  How not knowing everything makes you an even better leader  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?    Subscribe for market updates, tips, and more! 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

Single Family homes and Self Storage facilities are drastically different assets. They are both a solid path of investment that can yield great returns. And as a homeowner (or a prospective one), self storage may seen complicated and out of your price range. Like Mike, you may be a homeowner with 1 or multiple properties. He is an ex-corporate worker in the Charolette, NC area and used to be a player in long-term/short-term rentals for Single Family homes. Barely making it out of 2008, he eventually ended up in storage. Three years ago, Mike bought his first Self Storage facility, a small deal under 10,000 sq.ft, moving up from there. Mike's story is inspiring and provides great insights into the nuances of being a new storage owner. Are you ready to take on the challenge? 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

Self storage marketing is one of the most CRUCIAL parts of owning a facility, but most self storage operators completely overlook it. They hear words like “branding,” “advertising,” and “SEO” and become frozen, so they stick to drive-by marketing and running ads in the local newspaper. This WILL NOT work in 2024, and with vacancies still running high across the country, the ONLY thing that will save you is self storage marketing done RIGHT. Luckily, we’re about to show you exactly how to do it. We’ve tested these self storage marketing ideas for over a decade, beating the local competition AND the REITs at their own game. And if you’re struggling to fill up your first facility or seeing your whole portfolio stagnate, slowly losing customers to the self storage facility next door, this is a show you CANNOT miss. We’re going to tell you exactly what you need to do to get in front of new customers, close the sale, and fill up your facility in 2024.  What you’ll learn in today’s show: How to start marketing your self storage facility so customers find you TODAY What to do when a REIT or big facility moves into your local market  Why small facilities MUST “play a different game” to get their doors rented  Our surprising finding about intro rates that completely blew our minds  Why your self storage facility name (probably) doesn’t matter as much as you think How to use branding to break into new markets (EVEN if they have high competition)  Want more free education & market insights? Search "Self Storage Income" on YouTube! 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

Buying self storage can sounds like an impossible task for a beginner, right? Well, we’ve bought dozens of facilities, even when competition is tight—and we’re showing you what we see in the market today so YOU can acquire your first or next storage deal! Your next self storage facility is closer than you think! But before you get into self storage, you need to know what you want to buy. We’ll detail how to build an investing “buy box” that’ll help you get the EXACT self storage deals you want sent straight to your inbox. Finally, the rookie mistakes that SO many make when closing on a property and how falling into these traps can ruin your real estate investing future and blacklist you from getting any more deals. If you’re ready to start investing in self storage in 2024, this episode is for you. Want more free education & market insights? Search "Self Storage Income" on YouTube! 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

The Fed chair Jerome Powell decided to stop interest rate hikes. It's in the news, it's what's trending - but is it accurate? If so, what are the effects on storage?   The potential rate drop creates a weird dichotomy. Despite wanting GDP to drop, and for unemployment to rise, the Fed changing its tune is surprising. Recessions are the most effective way to stop inflation...when it works. It's also an election year: historically, the Fed has only changed rates once before an election. It threatens the politics involved, and they want to step back.    If they're going to do something, they have to make a decision quickly.   In self storage, this affects more than just the price of a storage unit. This can hit maintenance costs, building/renovations, staffing costs, advertising, and much more. 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

Starting over every since year (New Year, New Me) can actually be a bad thing. Why? Because resetting your own progress can actually lead you to regress, not progress.   I n this episode, AJ and Conner talk about how to CRUSH your storage goals in 2024. We started out with a facility FIRE. Without our strategic approach to handling crises based on our past experience, it could have been a disaster.    The article we talked about: https://usinsider.com/when-disaster-strikes-aj-osbornes-blueprint-for-self-storage-resilience-in-response-to-cleveland-fire/  It's SO important to reflect and analyze your own goals and progress, so you don't make repeated mistakes. So what's the best balance between analyzing for improvement, and at what point does it negatively impact your goals? 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

Commercial lending is a mess. Interest rates are up, deals aren’t getting done, and banks are becoming very selective with who they lend money to. And whether you’re a beginner or a veteran investor, you’re feeling the sting of struggling to find the money to make your next deal happen.    But what if we told you it wasn’t impossible to find funding even in 2024’s tough real estate market? What if you knew exactly what a bank wanted BEFORE you brought them your deal? How easy would funding be then?   In today’s show, we brought on Vice President of Capital Markets at Cedar Creek Capital, Ben Benditson, to share what investors NEED to know about today’s interest rates, predictions for 2024, and how to get a loan on your next self storage deal, even when everyone else is telling you it’s impossible.   What you’ll learn in today’s show:  - How rising interest rates destroyed demand and occupancy for many self storage operators   - “Semi-black swan” events that changed the real estate market forever  - What lenders want to see from you NOW to lend on your next deal  - DSCR explained, and the one metric banks NEED to see   - Alternative commercial lending products that’ll help you get a deal done WITHOUT the banks    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

Missed Part 1? Check it out here: https://youtu.be/0Q_aD48I2qM  The Business of Self Storage includes all the important Core Departments that makes the wheels go round. We're talking about legal, accounting, acquisitions, technology, and more. We talked about the day to day operations that happens at a facility in our previous episode. But there's two sides to it: the Business of Storage not only allows you be competitive, but it is required for you to acquire and maintain that property. You don't need to know how to do all of it. But you do need to know what to look for and to hire for. Want to take advantage of todays market conditions with us? Invest in our opportunistic Fund 2 Here: https://cedar.cc/invest Our Sponsor - Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ Ready to buy storage? Have our team do the leg work for you! Our feasibility studies: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Investing in self storage is not a "passive" investment. It's about how the business is run. We talk a lot about the investment side of things, but what about the business itself?  In this 2 part episode, we focus on how the business side of self storage is executed, with our very own co-host Conner Skeen, who is the COO of our asset management side. He brings over key concepts and ways we approach managing the self storage business. He calls it, the 4 Pillars of the Self Storage Business. - Management - Customer Acquisition Process & Revenue Management - Maintenance - Core Departments We couldn't fit all the good knowledge and stories in one episode, so we're talking about the 4th pillar, our backend Core Departments, in the next episode. Follow the podcast so you don't miss that episode! Want to take advantage of todays market conditions with us? Invest in our opportunistic Fund 2 Here: https://cedar.cc/invest Our Sponsor - Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ Ready to buy storage? Have our team do the leg work for you! Our feasibility studies: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Real estate took a hit in 2023. Many companies were laying off their deal acquisitions teams. Because it's true - real estate transactions are down massively. But deals still happen. 70% of our deals this year has been off-market deals. This looked very different just a few years ago. In this episode, we brought on Brian Mullally, our VP of Acquisitions from Cedar Creek Capital. We talk about key aspects, such as - Effect of 2023 - Why Buying Criteria is important - Challenges and notes going forward in 2024 At the end of the day, we are a value add company. That's our strategy. It's what we've used to great long-term wealth and build our ecosystem of products. With this endgame in mind, we diligently pursue deals no matter the market conditions. And you should too. Want to take advantage of todays market conditions with us? Invest in our opportunistic Fund 2 Here: https://cedar.cc/invest Our Sponsor - Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ Ready to buy storage? Have our team do the leg work for you! Our feasibility studies: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/feasibility 

Since we have numbers and charts, this episode is better experienced over on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/-FYu86WdZSY  2023 SUCKED. It was a hard year for storage. We talked about how the market has changed in the last episode, but today, we want to see how those changes have affected our assets. Yes, we're sharing with you OUR NUMBERS and talking about insights. I can't control the market. You can't either. But what can we control to measure the true value of your assets? And just as importantly, how long will it take you to make changes?  Measuring performance according to a previously established plan can work well if you know how that performance is being affected. If performance is down because of something I did, then I obviously did something wrong. If it's down, but the market is what brought it down, then I need to be proactively adjusting the original plan.  That's what we did this year. We saw the numbers come in, and now we have to change our business plan just as the market has changed.  Want to take advantage of todays market conditions with us? Invest in our opportunistic Fund 2 Here: https://cedar.cc/invest Our Sponsor - Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ Our architecture services can be found here: https://cedar.cc/services