Building Relationships is the Best Way to Find Properties!

There are so many ways to find properties, but one of the best ways to find properties is through relationships. There are the relationships that you have with friends and family and coworkers, there are the relationships you have with business professionals within the industry, and then there are the relationships that you create with self-storage business/facility owners. So, how do you build these relationships?

One way to remind friends and family that you are in the self-storage investment business is to have an e-mail signature. On that signature, you can say something like “My self-storage real estate business is built on referrals. I appreciate yours!” This is a nice way to remind them that you are in self-storage every time you reach out to them for any reason.

You also need to reach out to professionals within the industry. Realtors, especially those who specialize in self-storage or commercial real estate, are great contacts to have. Reach out to them and let them know that you are a well-qualified buyer who is interested in acquiring their next self-storage facility. Tell them specifically what you are looking for so that they can go out and find it for you. You can also network with title companies. They are often the first source to find out when a transaction does not close. They can pass your name along to the seller as an alternative buyer.

Finally, you need to be networking with self-storage facility owners yourself. You want to be sending out mailers on a regular basis to let them know that you are interested in purchasing their facility. You want to set up a system so that you don’t send out one mailer and are done. You should send these out at a minimum of every 3-6 months. You want to remind them that you are ready to buy their self-storage facility when they are ready to sell so that when their circumstances change, you are the person that they think of. You can also network on self-storage facility chat groups. Be pro-active about finding self-storage facility owners.

There are so many ways to find self-storage facilities. Don’t limit yourself to just one. Start reaching out and networking with the people you interact with. You might be surprised by who they know. Talk to agents! Have them start looking for you. Start sending out mailers to the self-storage owners you don’t know so that they can get to know you. No matter what you do, get started. As always, Happy Investing.