All Forum Posts by: Henry Clark

This is an example, for discussion only.
	Layout Phase 1, 2 acres
	Assume the 4 acres is square.										Setbacks- front/side/rear													Assume roads are not allowed on this.
											Driveways- 25 foot
	295										Buildings-15/ 30/40 foot
590											Turnarounds- 50 foot

																																																												Green change or fill in info

	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5		Not using 10’s for ease, definitely put in.
10																																																													Rental Revenue:
10						Entrance																																																						# units	Unit Size	Rental rate	months	Gross
10																																																												205	15	80	12	196800
10																																																												164	20	100	12	196800
10						Gate																																																							10	60	12
10																																																																393600
10
10																																																														@ 90% occupancy		0.9
10
10						Units							Splits											Splits												Splits											Splits															@ 90% occupancy		354240
10				15		1					15					15						20						20							15					15						20						20
10						2
10						3
10						4
10						5																																																							Building installed cost
10						6																																																						Units	Avg cost
10						7																																																						205	3200			656000
10						8																																																						164	3200			524800
10						9
10						10																																																								Average total cost		1180800
10						11
10						12
10						13
10						14																																																							Feet****************************************			Yards****************************************			Cubic Yards
10						15																																																						Concrete Estimate at 6 inches:			6 inches
10						16																																																						Turn around	275	50	0.5	91.67	16.67	.17	254.63
10						17																																																						Turn around	275	50	0.5	91.67	16.67	.17	254.63
10						18																																																						Entrance	25	50	0.5	8.33	16.67	.17	23.15
10						19																																																						Driveways	410	25	0.5	136.67	8.33	.17	189.81
10						20																																																						Driveways	410	25	0.5	136.67	8.33	.17	189.81
10						21																																																						Driveways	410	25	0.5	136.67	8.33	.17	189.81
10						22																																																						Driveways	410	25	0.5	136.67	8.33	.17	189.81
10						23																																																						Driveways	410	25	0.5	136.67	8.33	.17	189.81
10						24
10						25																																																											Cubic yards roads		1481.48
10						26
10						27
10						28																																																									Get a local Quote:		Cost framed/poured/sawn		456.389452332657
10						29
10						30																																																											Driveway costs		$676,133
10						31
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10						33
10						34
10						35
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10
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0 Votes

Info on Self Storage: Excel sheets not allowed to be sent, here is a copy.

Note: This is written for an individual owner or investor. The Big organizations already have their templates and methods. And will be doing Climate controlled.
This is an example, for discussion only.

A. Project Cost estimate from ground up.
B. P/L revenue stream
C. Valuation Buy/Sell
Adjust all of the above to your local market and situation.

	A. Self Storage Project Worksheet
	Drive up Storage

		Notes:
Land	$200,000	4 acres at $50,000/acre
Survey	$7,000	Site, elevation and building layout
Fence	$30,000	Black chainlink
Gate system	$25,000	Automated rolling 20ft
Engineer		if needed; $30,000 to $60,000
Dirt work	$15,000	Slight roll, no dirt brought on site
Building demo		if needed, $15,000 to $60,000
Electrical- site	$7,000	building lighting and office if needed, LED.
Electric poles		if needed; $2,000 per pole. First is free if nearby.
Security	$10,000
Storm drains		if needed; $50,000 to $150,000
Water		if needed; $5,000 just plumbing
Water line		?? if an extension could be $10,000 up to $150,000
Fire Hydrant		if needed, $3,000
Sewer		if needed: $5,000 plumbing
Sewer Line		if needed; $10,000 up to ????

Buildings	$1,180,800	Phase 1 2 acres
Office		if needed, plain storage unit 20x30; $25,000 insulated.
Office setup		if needed, $5,000- computers, printers, HVAC, frig, cabinets, etc
Footings		if needed. ??????
Roads
Gravel		if needed, ?????
Asphalt		if needed, ?????
Concrete	$676,133	6 inch Cubic yards, framed, poured, sawn,
Retention Pond		if needed, part of dirt work cost, less land for buildings
Landscaping	$5,000	I like trees and bushes. Less sterile
Road Sign	$15,000	For highway 55mph billboard sign



Total	$2,170,933

0 Votes

Your greatest investment and the greatest return is yourself. Take care of that first.

If doing Brrrr Properties is your investment in yourself, then lets work backwards.

Type of loan and downpayment:

What type of loan will you use and how much do they require you invest? Example: Bank say 35% down on $100,000 then you need $35,000. Or 10% on $100,000 then you need $10,000.

Since your doing a Brrrr and you are still learning how to estimate costs and see issues, you need "extra" cash around you, otherwise you might get stuck with a nice house, but a bad roof you hadn't planned on, with no money to fix.

a. Figure out your financing, to determine how much down payment you need.

b. Pick an easy Brrrr for your first one so you don't get burned with "extra" hidden costs.

0 Votes

Was asked by a person to look at two different Self Storage properties about 2 hours away from them as their first time investment. Wasn't to excited, since I would prefer they look close to their home, so they could manage and learn the business versus using a management company. Took a look at both and advised against them, in general.

I asked have you looked in your home town. They said it was overbuilt already. I decided to do a market analysis for them.

1. The town only had 75% of the storage units that it should have for their population.

2. The three major storage facilities were on the West outskirt of town.

3. There is really only one major facility of the 3 and it is a National firm. Normally a play I go for is to own 60% of the market then, I can raise the price $10 per unit each. Which is about a 30% increase in profits and cash. In this instance, you can do that right off the bat because the national firm is already high.

4. The major population was to the North and East of those storage units.

5. Preliminary zoning review showed all of them were in Commercial zoning.

6. There were bare ground both on the North and East main access road in Commercial zoning.

Summary:

Read a lot about looking out of state or far away. Take a look near home first. Its easier to manage and you know the market better. Especially if your new to that type of investing. Like they say it always looks greener on the other side of the fence. But that might be because its your first time to look, and its hard everywhere.

Hope to hear from that individual again.

Wealth Creation:

You know I have engaged with about 5 people and given them info and direction; and they have "disappeared".

It takes 3 things to "Create" wealth:

1. An Idea or product.

2. Financing

3. Entrepreneurship, or willing to jump off the cliff.

Maintaining Wealth:

They say most wealth is usually lost by the Third Generation. Given the three items above. Ideas/products get outdated. Financing or wealth gets spent on non producing assets or lifestyles. Entrepreneurship or "Hunger" gets lost. Was talking with a friend of mine who is well off. We both have sons. He said the thing he wishes he could teach his sons is "hunger". He used to work at a hamburger joint during college and took the wrong orders home for food. Although this is hunger, he meant in a wider term, such as a car for high school, new shoes, not having to worry whether you could pay for the next semester of college, having just a grey and a brown suit for your first white collar job.

Most of my posts, I always start or end with "Start Small and make your Big Mistakes early".

I think this might be why I haven't heard from these folks. They are trying too big of a project at first. Its hard to "Jump off the Cliff" and make the investment. If your starting in storage a great size is 25 to 50 unit location. This isn't a very good "Financial" decision, but you learn everything you need to know, so you can make bigger leaps later. My first location was only 35 units, and I was scared enough, but I knew I could take the "hit" if it turned out bad. Now I know 90% of all the issues, back then only about 60%.

So don't "Jump off the Cliff"; just "Step off the Curb" on your first deal.

2 Votes

No answers, just thought process:

What's the math:

a. If you sold everything to pay down debt then bought this house. Would this be a good investment.

b. Which is the better investment? 1. Current rental plus your new home you need to buy?; 2. Sell and pay down debt and own the Beachfront with whatever debt results, knowing this is your house and you won't "cash flow" or "flip" for a while.

c. Difference between your cash out of your old house versus the $800k new house. Monthly Cash flow difference on your refinancing. If you had a loan on your old house with 9 years remaining and your monthly payment was $2,000. The new house will take a 30 year term at $2,300 (does the extra $300 per month matter?). Is the monthly payment difference acceptable and the added term life ( are you 60 years old, example).

Quality of Life:

a. Drive for work

b. Family impact, neighborhood, friends, family, schools.

c. Current versus ocean neighborhood.

Risk level:

a. Your job security for the next xx years.

b. Double income family, loss of a job.

Total the Upside. Total the downside. Realize all of the above are not mathematical, so its your "assessment".

Then, what's the answer.

Lets say your future payoff is $200,000 in 15 years. Is it worth the negative impact of moving areas, net of the positive impact of the ocean side?

Lets say your future payoff is $500,000; then the above question again.

Good luck.

0 Votes

Key is to take stakes and string out and lay out your parking and driveways. Then take your vehicle around and see how easy it is. We do 20/30/40 foot parking spots. Each one is wider than the smaller size. See my notes above, but generally a 20 is 12 wide; 30 is 14 wide; 40 is 15 wide. They need to be wider since the longer vehicle can't cut the angles up front as easily.

Generally speaking unless you got the land super cheap and it was already surfaced, you don't get a very good rate of return on doing Parking.

It is usually just a temporary measure until you need to build more storage units.

There is great demand, but they don't want to pay the price.

0 Votes

More info; looks better on spreadsheet.

Note: This is written for an individual owner or investor. The Big organizations already have their templates and methods. And will be doing Climate controlled.
This is an example, for discussion only.

A. Project Cost estimate from ground up.
B. P/L revenue stream
C. Valuation Buy/Sell
Adjust all of the above to your local market and situation.

	A. Self Storage Project Worksheet
	Drive up Storage

		Notes:
Land	$200,000	4 acres at $50,000/acre
Survey	$7,000	Site, elevation and building layout
Fence	$30,000	Black chainlink
Gate system	$25,000	Automated rolling 20ft
Engineer		if needed; $30,000 to $60,000
Dirt work	$15,000	Slight roll, no dirt brought on site
Building demo		if needed, $15,000 to $60,000
Electrical- site	$7,000	building lighting and office if needed, LED.
Electric poles		if needed; $2,000 per pole. First is free if nearby.
Security	$10,000
Storm drains		if needed; $50,000 to $150,000
Water		if needed; $5,000 just plumbing
Water line		?? if an extension could be $10,000 up to $150,000
Fire Hydrant		if needed, $3,000
Sewer		if needed: $5,000 plumbing
Sewer Line		if needed; $10,000 up to ????

Buildings	$1,180,800	Phase 1 2 acres
Office		if needed, plain storage unit 20x30; $25,000 insulated.
Office setup		if needed, $5,000- computers, printers, HVAC, frig, cabinets, etc
Footings		if needed. ??????
Roads
Gravel		if needed, ?????
Asphalt		if needed, ?????
Concrete	$676,133	6 inch Cubic yards, framed, poured, sawn,
Retention Pond		if needed, part of dirt work cost, less land for buildings
Landscaping	$5,000	I like trees and bushes. Less sterile
Road Sign	$15,000	For highway 55mph billboard sign



Total	$2,170,933

0 Votes

More info

		Storage Startup Checklist 101
		Response to Zagreb, Croatia startup
1	Why Do Storage?
2		Why Storage? Why you?	I’ll do a separate Topic. Don’t know your financial’s, but you will outstrip your collateralization fast. Develop a relationship with someone you trust and bring them along for the ride. Preferably an Apartment developer. They don’t have to invest in the first project, but you will need them later. Make sure this a solid relationship, otherwise they will cut you out once your successful.
3	Market/Demand:
4		Market size	See post, if your the “first”, then you don’t care. You have more than enough Market, in a 800,000 Pop city.
5		Outside or climate controlled?	Let your search and “deal” decide. Look for both an outside Land acquisition or an old industrial building. If you get a large enough building, finish it out in stages.
6		Market location	Seek your higher income areas first. Pick along the A2, A3, A4 corridors first. Stay away from the mountains. Do several small locations, no smaller than 1 hectare. Once you have the experience and Financial support, go for a Climate controlled location in an old neighborhood that is high income or rebuilding itself.
7		Zoning	See post
8		Site location	Have several searches and deals going at once, most of them won’t pan out for the price you are willing to pay. This way you “can walk away”. This gives you negotiating power.
9		Site acquisition
10	Financing:		See “Topic”
11		Financing-construction	Find a banker who knows Apartment building construction
12		Financing- rent up stage	Same as above. You want “interest only” and not principal for a portion of the rent up period.
13		Financing- long-term	If your going to grow, unless you have significant capital at your disposal, find a future business partner.
14		Business Model	I’ll clean up and post one of my spreadsheets later.
15	Construction:		Use local knowledge/availability
16		Permits
17		Building type
18		Building manufacturer
19		Contractor
20	Day to day:
21		Rental Contract	Post a “Topic” on this Forum and ask for some copies sent to you.
22		Rental Rates	Zagreb’s GDP per capita is $19,132 versus where I live $60,246 metro area of 1mm. Thus if I say a 10 x 20 “Foot, not meter” unit is $120, then yours would be around $40. Making this simplistic. Get on Sparefoot and pick a US city similar to Zagreb and pick out prices for 10 x 20/15/10/5. Then take 1/3 of that for your price in US $, then convert. Recommend you don’t use this as your starting prices; go after a richer neighborhood and charge higher prices.
23		Auction rules	Post a “Topic” on this Forum and ask for some copies sent to you.
24		Security system	Situational, work with your local security firm.
25		Fencing	situational
26		Self Service or manager	situational
27		Management software	Since the world is internet based, see if you can use one of the Storage management softwares in Zagreb. Do not do this on a spreadsheet or paper. You need to develop a system to grow with.
28	Marketing:
29		Website	check ClarkstorageLLC, and others on this forum. Take the best from each and make a template, for a better one.
30		SEO management	Since your the only one, you just need Google Map Pins and build up your google ranking under key words.
31		Marketing Software	Sparefoot or similar in your market area. If none exist for Storage, seek out Apartment, home, AIRBNB, Craigslist sites. If you have Craigslist, put an add out there with your offering and price. Different sizes and prices. Get feedback.
32		Marketing	Something you probably already know.
33		Social Media	Something you probably already know.
34	Insurance:		Leave to you for local knowledge
35		Business
36		Renters
	Sundry:		Leave to you for local knowledge
		Property taxes
		Legal system

0 Votes

More info:

Unit

Description

Row:

G001

1x20x1

Rows and Road Configuration

G002

1x20x1

Road

G003

1x20x1

G004

1x20x1

This layout is on a 2 acre square.

G005

1x20x1

Roads are all the same width.

G006

1x20x1

All rows are set at 45 degree angles

G007

1x20x1

G008

1x20x1

G009

1x20x1

G010

1x20x1

G011

1x20x1

G012

1x20x1

G013

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G014

1x20x1

G015

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G016

1x20x1

G017

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G018

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G025

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G026

1x20x1

G027

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G028

1x20x1

G029

1x20x1

G030

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G031

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G032

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G033

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G034

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G035

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G036

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1x30x1

G040

1x30x1

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G088

1x40x1

G089

1x40x1

G090

1x40x1

0 Votes

I will zip some info to you. Some are spreadsheets which are not allowed. Just go to my website and look in blogs to see if you can find attached.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR RV OR VEHICLE STORAGE

A. Pull through- The front, pull as far forward as possible, gives the person next to you an easier angle to turn into, from behind you. Align your front with the fronts of all other vehicles. Be courteous and leave enough room on the Driver side, so that RV can open their doors.

B. Back to back parking- our locations are set up at 60 degree parking. Also, they are setup for the driver to back in on their side, so they can use the lot next to them for alignment. This way you only have one blind side on the right side backing in. Otherwise you have two blind sides.

We have 20/30/40 foot parking at our location at 26763 Highway 34, Glenwood, IA. Each size has a different width due to how hard it is to park a longer unit at the very front angle of their turn in. 20’s- 10 wide; 30’s- 12 wide; 40’s- 15 wide. Although you could park an RV in any of these sizes, it is easier with a wider width to make the “front” turn. Or ask for an end parking spot, so you are doing a 90 degree parking, but have the whole drive way to back in with, without a turn.

C. Canopy- same issues as others, depending on if 60 degree or 90 degree parking.

D. Enclosed- Really a matter of width and depth. Keep in mind all measurements for storage are relative. For example: A 10 wide x 20 deep x 8 tall unit, with studs, roll up door and door jambs; is really 9 wide x 19 ft 6 inch deep x 7 ½ foot tall. Also if you have a 20 ft boat or Camper, its really 22/23/24 ft depending on Propeller, bumper or front hitch.

E. Surface- Rock or hard surface (concrete/asphalt); If on rock/asphalt put your tongue leg or stabilizer pads on wider pads to spread the weight out. These pads are needed on Asphalt since in hot weather they will sink into the asphalt.

F. Pest control- we put mouse bait out along the fence lines and under the units, mow excess weeds and grass. You should put both rodent and bug control in your unit. Dispose of all food sources, for long term storage. If you want to be really diligent with pest control, don’t park next to overhead lights. They attract bugs at night and then mice underneath. Put scented drier sheets in all compartments and rooms. Open all cabinets and doors.

G. Stabilizers- if doing long term storage put you stabilizers down. Most parking is in an open area and the units can rock and move with the wind. This will also help with taking pressure off your tires so they last longer.

H. Security- Put a lock on the hitch. Although you are in a secure location, RV’s and trailers are the easiest storage to break into or take without notice. Recommend you put in motion sensors or GPS tracking security. Check your vehicle at least twice a month. Most Security systems only maintain footage for 2 weeks due to camera memory capacity.

I. Propane Fuel Tanks- disconnect and store if leaving for long term storage.

J. Electronic Lifts- disconnect the battery if leaving for long term storage.

K. Insurance- most storage unit insurance policies do not cover vehicles. Keep your insurance, just have them adjust your automobile to fewer miles or just comprehensive coverage. Wind, Flood, tornado, Hail, or third party damage or theft can still occur. Traditional insurance coverage, RV’s normally stay a flat rate throughout the year, thus you will still need to maintain full coverage. Or, if you seek out a specific RV or rec vehicle insurance company, you can move in and out of winterization rates.

L. Pricing- use a 30 foot vehicle as an example:

-In the country about a $1 per foot on rock.

-With Paved access and parking spot, this might run $60 to $90

- Enclosed parking this will cost about $120 to $170 for a 30 foot.

- Enclosed parking for a 50 foot, might cost $225 to $350.

The price extremes are the cost of the concrete/asphalt road and the storage bay. Also the longer the unit the price goes up significantly because it takes more driveway width to park and the type of door changes in both size and type (remote operated). A 50 ft RV will require about a 70 foot wide driveway to back in.

We are only addressing the long term Parking portion of storage. Other items are specific to each vehicle such as water clean out, Tire/window shades, etc.

Quick non Parking list:

Wheel/tire covers; Vehicle cover.

Remove and store your tires.

Store with a full fuel tank to prevent condensation

Add fuel stabilizers

Place RV completely off the ground to prevent flat spots on your tires, if left for a long time.

Cover your HVAC, skylights, vents and windows to prevent exposure to sun and breakdown.

Boats leave your plug out, whether covered or not.

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Henry Clark

Henry Clark has started 197 posts and replied 3796 times.

Post: Investing in Self Storage - Please Point Me in Right Direction!

Post: Investing in Self Storage - Please Point Me in Right Direction!

Post: What is a reasonable amount of cash to start investing?

Post: Self Storage- Deal 10; Look at Home first And Wealth Creation

So don't "Jump off the Cliff"; just "Step off the Curb" on your first deal.

Post: Investment property opportunity

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Henry Clark has started 197 posts and replied 3796 times.

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Investing in Self Storage - Please Point Me in Right Direction!

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Investing in Self Storage - Please Point Me in Right Direction!

Biggerpockets Logo Post: What is a reasonable amount of cash to start investing?

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Self Storage- Deal 10; Look at Home first And Wealth Creation

So don't "Jump off the Cliff"; just "Step off the Curb" on your first deal.

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Investment property opportunity

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Investing in Self Storage - Please Point Me in Right Direction!

Post: Investing in Self Storage - Please Point Me in Right Direction!

Post: What is a reasonable amount of cash to start investing?

Post: Self Storage- Deal 10; Look at Home first And Wealth Creation

Post: Investment property opportunity

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage

Post: Vacant lots for storage units and car storage