Remote Self Storage Local Support

[Michael Stokes]

Hi everyone, I currently have a short term rental and long term rental properties and I am interested in self storage facilities. I am located in CT and they are very hard to come by so I am exploring remote facilities.  My short term rentals are remote and I run them all from my cell phone, and I believe that I would easily be able to do all the remote aspects of self storage without issue.  My question is around the needs of local boots on the ground support for things like lockouts, new tenants, etc., how does everyone who remote manages go about finding someone to do that type of work for them?  In the short term game my cleaner doubles as my maintenance person and they are my eyes and ears for all things support but I wasn't sure how that works in the self storage business.

Any guidance is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

-Mike

[Kevin Bledsoe]

@Michael Stokes Yes, there are a number of really good 3rd Party Management companies in the industry. There’s a company in York, PA called Storage Asset Management (SAM) and they’re the largest privately held management company in the industry. However, 3rd Party Management costs 6% of revenue or typically a minima of $24k + the cost of the employee.

I would also look into Freedom Storage Management and Red Dot Storage for 3rd Party Management. Both of these groups offer a remote management style which will reduce onsite staffing expenses.

Best of luck!