Wanting to get into self storage/RV-Boat business

[Christopher Salatino]

My first post here. This forum is awesome and to thank everyone ahead of time. 

Ok so i have always had a dream to own my business. Always want to provide for my family way more than i do already. My wife and I have a 3yr old and now a 5 week old. It crushed me when my 3 yr old was born and watching my wife cry wanting to just be home with our baby instead of going to work. She is on maternity leave trying to maybe find a stay at home job like mine (since COVID). But i know if she doesn't she will go through the same. Kills me. I want more for them.

I thought of RV/Boat storage.. Well because i can literally drive around my city and see that all storage places are packed/full of vehicles. And with what i read/listen about them and only hear of great things of being in this business.

Here is my problem. [Honestly] I know nothing of the business. I know I would be amazing at it and have the biggest drive to do so. But I just don't know anything of it. I constantly try to listen to podcasts about people who start in the business but pretty much everyone i hear start off by saying "well i was in real estate and decided to get into self stor...." or "So i got into the business because my parents were in the business...". I haven't heard of someone saying "I was working 9-5 at office depot and one day i said I don't want this and went into self storage". 

For example, for a 16 yr old who is wanting a car but knows nothing, I can literally tell them step by step from riding a bicycle to having a car lol. 

I just want this and i don't know where to go. I'm not saying i want a hand out but i just really want this and have no clue where to start and what exactly I need to learn. 

I am looking at properties around my area, dreaming, but have no clue what to do and even if the price is good or crazy. 

I found an running storage facility that is for sale. Indoor AC/outdoor, 15,950 SF, 122 units, 60 parking spots, 96% average occupancy, fenced with 24/7 security, 35 yrs left in land lease. Asking $1.8. Even shows expenses and profit. Its 10 mins down the road and the only one being sold that's around me. I have no clue if this is gold or bust. I'm sitting here saying if I had some-what knowledge to start and this is a good deal I could run this for my family. 

Sigh, sorry if this all sounds pre-mature. But I'm 37 and just getting older. Tired of working paycheck to paycheck. 

Like I had mentioned ... I want this bad but no clue what to do. 

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the long post. 

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Christopher Salatino:

Welcome to the BiggerPockets forums!

Self storage can definitely outperform residential rentals. I bought one in 2020 for $550,000. It is a junky property but it grosses almost $12,000 a month and I'm netting over $7,000 a month while only working 3-4 hours a week on it. That's not an exaggeration.

I do believe it's a unicorn. I cold called all the facilities in the area, I bought this one from a family that was so tired of dealing with it that they had stopped marketing vacant units a full year prior and they were occupying 1/4 of the units themselves with junk. It was a mess. It still is a mess! But I got the website, I created a system that allows people to move in/out without my personal involvement, I filled the vacant units and it's a cash cow.

You could start by reading a couple books and taking notes. Storing Up Profits by Paul Moore is a good one in the BP bookstore. Also Growing Wealth in Self Storage by AJ Osborne. Both of these guys are very experienced and crushing it. However, I feel AJ's book is a little light on specifics, jumbled, and really a marketing tool to entice you to invest in his coaching.

Stacy Rossetti is someone I recently stumbled across and she seems very credible: https://www.youtube.com/channe...

She has a lot of free videos to whet your appetite, then she offers coaching, analysis tools, and can even help you locate your first facility. I've looked at enough of her stuff to say that she's the real deal without all the fluff and she's helping every-day people find real deals.

I'm not an expert, but I'm happy to answer questions and help you on this journey.