Say you had $400K to invest for cashflow. Where/what do you buy?

[Maria D'Aura]

I'm ready to make another purchase. I'm looking primarily for longterm cashflow. I'm in California, but open to out of state investing. I've been looking at my options in California, southern washington state, and St. Louis where I have connections. What other cities should I consider and what are the pros/cons you're aware of?

[Neil Henderson]

@Maria D'Aura When it comes to self-storage, it's all about supply and demand. Self-storage is as much a retail business as it is a commercial real estate asset. 

The markets are VERY localized and depend on a lot of factors. I would never recommend a newbie just up and build a self-storage facility from the ground up on any old piece of land. That's a recipe for disaster.

I would look for tertiary markets where there are few, if any, major storage players (Public Storage, Extra Space, CubeSmart, etc.), where there is population growth but not too much (too much will draw the aforementioned big players), where they is high demand for storage, indicated by facilities that are occupied and raising rates, and where you feel you could come in and improve an existing facility that isn't being operated professionally or to it's maximum potential (room to build).

Or, just invest in one or two via a syndication. Reliant is a very big operator of Self-Storage syndications, and Spartan Investment Group is another up and comer.