One type of commercial real estate is seeing skyrocketing demand right now: small bay industrial. Haven’t heard of it? You’re not alone. But for investors like Shea Lewis, one of our Inner Circle students at Self Storage Income, this often underrated type of real estate investment gives him great returns, high demand, and rock-bottom vacancy. But what is small bay industrial investing, and why are so many businesses fighting for small bay space right now? If you invest in self storage, or...

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,...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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:...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

Want to take advantage of today's market conditions with us? Learn more: https://cedar.cc/ The Self Storage Market is now more different than ever. This is the first time we're seeing the impact of high interest rates in this industry. All the policy changes in the last year have culminated in us approaching storage in a way we have never before. What's going on with the self storage market? In this episode, Conner and AJ break down what they're seeing in their private equity side as well...

When Jonas started investing in Self Storage, he sent out turkeys to storage owners in his area - TURKEYS - during the Thanksgiving season. He didn't use mailers or run ads, but was able to secure 3 deals, despite this unconventional "tactic." Our guest today, Jonas Duckett, now owns over 30 facilities that he acquired with his wife. His valuable insight into the dealmaking process is why we wanted him on our podcast - to share them with you!  Want to take advantage of todays market...

If you want to get into the Self Storage investing game, you may be trying to decide if buying a pre-built facility is better than building one on a blank plot of land (or expanding an existing one).   Our guest Matt Wallace has extensive experience with just this. He transitioned from multifamily residential real estate to Self Storage, and had to go through many challenges and hoops to build a facility. Dealing with the city and the falllout of existing management was just the beginning....