Mixed self storage with RV/boat storage

[Blake Berry]

I own several SFRs and 8 doors of multi-family. I have been very pleased with the performance of these investments, and until recently, I was prepared to keep purchasing SFRs and multi-family as long as the numbers continue to work.

3 months ago, I was talking to a friend who also invests in rentals in my same market. He said that recently (last 10 years) he has been investing in self storage and he loves it.

His advice to me was to invest in boat and RV storage as there is only 1 other, small provider in town, and he is regularly receiving calls from people looking for a place to store larger items, like boats, RVs, semi trucks, tractors, etc. My property manager has also said this same thing to me.

I have started running preliminary numbers on a 10 acre piece of land. My idea is to do a mix of self storage units and boat/RV storage and to expand either or both to meet market demand.

I have built preliminary estimates of land and construction costs and I am really liking the numbers I’m seeing (construction and general contracting are 2 of my strengths)

My biggest blind spot right now is on the operations side. If I utilize a perimeter fence, access control and security cameras (all of which none of the other self storage operators in my area have), what are the administrative demands beyond accounting (payment processing and red locking non-payers) and general house keeping?

Lastly, if i decide to move forward with this project, i plan to seek out investors. What kind of return do investors usually expect on deals like this?

I appreciate any insights you can give.

[Mike Carr]

Depending on the size you can probably either hire or partner with a 3rd party management company. Most of the "top 100 operators" offer management as well. This would take care of the lack of experience or knowldege on the management/operations side.