Self Storage Site Selection / Planning & Construction Help Needed

[Chris C.]

I've been looking to build self storage. My personal budget isn't massive however I feel enough to get a phase 1 of a project done then once stabilized used to finance phase 2. If I need to get more money to knock it out of the park I will. I believe building is where I will get most bang for buck and create the most value.

My issue is that I now have an excellent realtor looking in my area and we can track down good priced land with demographics which I believe will work however since I don't really know the business I need someone who can help me determine areas where to look for land which will fit my personal project goal. Once I find the land this person can then do a feasibility study which my bank requires which will tell me how to design the build on the land and then do a competition and projection analysis among other things.

It has been hard to find someone thus far. I need more of a partner / consultant to help me along the way to get it done right the first time. Feasibility professionals in this industry seem very hard to deal with. They all want you to find your own land and then pay them $6k to tell you yes or no. They seem very uninterested to assist before hand to help this process get done right the first time.

I'm fine paying someone upfront a consultant fee to work with me through the planning, site selection, feasibility, construction and stabilization period on to phase 2 but finding someone like this is proving very difficult.

I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advice in this regard on how to go forward?

Thanks,

Christopher

[Scott Meyers]

Hey Chris, 

Your Frustration is only due to your lack of knowledge of the process.  We use Consultants for Feasibility Studies, but only after we buy the land.   If you paid $6,000 for a study on a site that you didn't control, or own, you are correct - you'd burn through a pretty big chunk of Cash to have them perform this level of service on each and every parcel you're broker ran across.  Don't get me wrong, they will do this, but it appears as if you're looking for them to do it for you for free as a "first look" or "opinion" before moving forward.   Well, again, you're right - that unicorn doesn't exist.   Don't forget, time is the most important commodity we all have, so you either need to learn how to do it on your own, or pay someone to do it for you - that's just business 101, but I'm sure you already knew that.  

We've gotten REALLY good at doing our own feasibility studies internally, and in most cases, we go to a level of detail that most consultants won't.  We still use them on each project because our lenders and equity partners want to see that a 3rd party consultant has performed a study, but we make our decisions based upon our combined analysis of a project and a market, not just the consultants.  But that's taken 10 years to gain that level of experience to draw on when we approach a new venture to know what's a home run, and what looks like  a home run, but is really a foul ball.  

Now, as far as a partner, or someone to coach you, or both, that DOES exist, but it's rare.   To my knowledge, our organization is the only one in the Self-Storage World that invests, teaches, raises private Capital, develops, acquires, and engages in joint ventures or partnerships.  In other words, I do what you're looking for - Day in and Day out. 

Feel free to check out some of my posts or blogs here on BP, visit our website, or Private message me if you want to chat about our approach to the industry, and how we partner with folks on projects like you just described.  But as a disclaimer, we don't coach, perform project/market analysis, or partner for Free.  So if you're looking for free advice, then you can listen to the rest of the chuckleheads who will weigh in on this post and you decide whether that's the best approach to take.  For instance, the post above mine is mostly correct, but the order in which you need to approach this is wrong, and his industry terminology is marginal at best - to the point that if you followed it, I see some expensive lessons heading your way.   Just an observation.     

Talk soon,