Going Solo or Getting a Trainer – Which is right for you?

Getting started in the self-storage industry is not always as easy as we would like it to be. In a perfect world, you would find a great commercial Realtor who specializes in self-storage; they would help you find a property with an amazing return on investment; they would introduce you to a lender who thought you were fantastic and fought for your project through loan committee. Then, on top of that, the lender is able to get you into the project with an SBA loan with only 10% down! Then, you find the perfect manager who is able to fill up your property with amazing tenants who never miss their rent payments. Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world. So, what do you do when any or all of these steps falls apart?

There are a lot of options for you when you are trying to enter the self-storage industry, or you are trying to build up your self-storage portfolio. First, you can shop around until you find a great agent who will take the time to really look for good opportunities for you and they will shop off-market deals until they find something that will work for you. You can interview lenders until you find one that does do SBA loans and they believe in what you are trying to accomplish so they will back you up. You can keep doing this over and over again until you find the perfect power team. Or you can invest in a trainer who already has a power team in place.

Another option is that you can find a local mentor. You can use your money and their experience to create a partnership and find properties together. You will split your profits with that partner until you are able to break away from them and stand on your own. This is similar to paying for training you are simply bringing in a partner instead of someone who will teach you how to do it on your own.

Finally, you can find a trainer who will help you build your team with their own experience. They will help you learn from their mistakes so that you do not go out and repeat them. They will introduce you to their power team so that you can use their people who have performed for them over and over again. That trainer can give you materials and scripts and marketing materials that actually work because they have used them and perfected them.

If you are going to hire someone to train you or find someone to partner with you, research the person that you are planning on partnering with or hiring as your trainer. You want to make sure that you are compatible and that they will provide you with what they promised. You want to find someone who actually does what they are teaching not just teaching. If you are going to partner with someone, are they really going to bring enough to the table to justify what you are going to offer them in the terms of the split on the property.

There is no reason that you cannot be a successful self-storage real estate investor. You may just need to find someone who can provide you with the right tools. For more information on how we can help you reach out to our customer service. As always, happy investing.