All Forum Posts by: George Fitz

@Matt Skinner Have you seen the MiniCo Insurance publications? I know that they have a bunch of publications aimed at the self-storage industry that could be useful. One of them is an Expense Guide that breaks down average expenses by regions. That's one that I've read. It's not super detailed, but it still may be useful? I'm pretty sure they have a construction guidebook too.

Hey @Patrick H. , here are a few podcasts I know of that are out there. Some are a bit old, but still interesting:

Episode from 12/4/13 on The Commercial Real Estate Show

Ep25 of The Commercial Investing Show

Ep12 of Real Estate Investing for Cash Flow

I've just been looking into reverse 1031's myself, and I can tell you with confidence that with a gain of only around $20k, a reverse exchange will be cost-prohibitive. I've talked to a couple of QI's about it and they both quoted me costs upward of $5000 for the reverse exchange. It would be cheaper to just pay the taxes. But you should be able to get a forward exchange done for less than $1000. So I'd focus on getting that closing extended and then do the forward exchange. Good luck!

Yes, I went to the SSA show back in August and it was great- I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you are new to self-storage like me. I don't own a property yet, but have spent the last 4 months immersing myself in all things self-storage, so I was there to get other's views on the business. I didn't pay for the training sessions, just went to the vendor exhibits, but still learned a ton. I was definitely struck that EVERY owner I talked to had nothing but good things to say and encouragement. But once I get into a property I will definitely be going back and attend the training sessions they offered. I heard the ISS show in the spring caters more to the smaller guys. I also just attended a seminar over the weekend that included Bob Copper from selfstorage101.com. He does training / consulting for self-storage operators and was just a wealth of knowledge. Might be worth checking out in case you hadn't heard of him already.

@Michael Wagner Have you attended any of this stuff? I think I may be where you were a few years ago, and it sounds like it's going well for you, so I'd be curious to hear your take.

Nice. Sounds like you got a good deal on the larger property, and will also get what you need out of the smaller property as well. And he'll probably call you first when he's willing to sell and truly negotiate. Good luck with the new investment!

@Patrick H. I'm very keen on self storage, but reading your post threw up a red flag. If the area is over built with storage, that is not something you can fix, so I'd personally be wary of both of these deals. If there's not enough population to support the number of storage units in the 3-5 mile radius, then you're going to have to compete on price. And that may not work out so well at the end of the day. As for the smaller property, if it is 100% occupied and the owner is no dummy then you will be paying max price for that NOI. Not much room to add value there (assuming you can't add other revenue). If the area has lots of vacancies then you may have trouble filling those units when people leave which would bring down the NOI and make it worth less, making your exit tough. Proceed cautiously.

Seller financing may be another way. Also, I've been doing a lot of research recently into commercial lending and have been told by lenders that recourse loans can often be negotiated so that the recourse lessens and / or expires over time.

A few other places to check out:

http://www.selfstoragetalk.com (forums)

http://www.trachte.com (self storage builder)

http://selfstorageinvesting.com (pay site with lots of training materials)

Podcasts:

Episode from 12/4/13 on The Commercial Real Estate Show

Ep25 of The Commercial Investing Show

Ep12 of Real Estate Investing for Cash Flow

Santi, Welcome to BP and to LA!

@Bradley Bogdan Pretty fascinating how it all played out up there. Camped a few times in Humboldt County- it's a pretty fascinating place in general.