Storage Units, lessons learned and mistakes made

[Josh Sicking]

Having attended the seminar at BPCON2021, my interest has peaked in the self-storage unit business. What did you guys and girls learn along the way? Did you build your own or buy existing ones? Is it possible for them to be automated?  Thanks in advance for all your answers, I look forward to reading them. 

[Paul Moore]

Hi @Josh Sicking. Glad you could be at BPCon!  I couldn’t hit every topic I wanted to.  I hit a lot more in the BP Podcast coming out 11/18/21 or so.  And much more in the upcoming book at Biggerpockets.com/storage. 

There are 4 major strategies to build a self-storage business: 

1. Momentum play. Buy a stabilized asset. Not recommended.  

2. Buy a value-add facility from a mom-and-pop owner and upgrade it. My favorite strategy.  

3. Adaptive reuse. Buy an old Sears or KMart etc and turn it into a facility.   See AJ Osborne’s awesome BP podcast on 7/5/18. 

4. Ground-up development. Potentially very profitable but risky. 

Happy Investing!