House Hack or Self Storage Hack?

[Waylen Herdman]

For the last year or so I had planned to house hack once I  had an ample amount saved up. I currently work at a self-storage facility making peanuts and offhandedly had an idea to buy a smallish Self-storage facility (<200k) and live on the property. More than a few had an apartment attached to the office that were in within my price range. Granted, these locations are usually in a small podunk town but it doesn't hurt to look deeper into the idea.

I've only worked at my location for a little under a year so I definitely am not proclaiming to be an expert on all things self storage.

What are some issues I should be aware of if I decided to go this route? Should I even flirt with this idea or stick to a 2-4 unit place to start? Thoughts?

[Michael Wagner]

Originally posted by @Waylen Herdman:

@Michael Wagner

You have some great material, I need to stop reading your blog and actually get back to work! :)

I imagine financing will be much tougher with buying a storage facility as opposed to buying a small multifamily. What software do you guys use at your facilities, Sitelink, Storage Commander?

Thanks Waylen! There is certainly a bigger barrier to entry but it doesnt have to be prohibitive. Even with traditional financing 80-90% LTV are very common in the SS world. Beyond that, all the creative strategies that work in the single/multi-family arenas work in self storage. Of the 3 facilities I control, I've never put down more than $40K of my own money. The most recent one has me infusing under $10K on a $500,000 acquisition and repair cost.