All Forum Posts by: John Lenhart

As minimum wage goes up, you increase rents to correspond to that wage increase. 

@Guy Azta for the studios, one thing I would try and find out is what the subsidized units will pay for a studio or something with similar sq footage and amenities. Do you pay heat, water, etc?  I saw a unit in Walnut Hills recently where they were being rented for $700/month (2 bed) and then Section 8 came in and said they would pay up to $950/month for the unit. This is a good way to determine what the baseline could be. 

In Evanston for a one bed unit I would aim to be in the 525-550 range if you are not there already and then $650 range for 2 beds

We are always pushing our rents across all neighborhoods. If you have a good product people will pay for it

I believe @scott meyers has a fund

@Brian Zaug one way to possibly get around the sec deposit issue is to take first month rent, last month rent, plus one month sec deposit. 

This will not help you against excessive damage, but it will help if tenant skips out on rent. 

What is your comfort level managing larger units and properties?

Are you financing this yourself or will you have partners? Part of the go big or go home problem is that many investors are not necessarily going to write a fat check to a newbie who has no track record. If you find people who will do that, great, but a lot of investors are going to ask about what you have done or can bring to the table before investing. 

Also, banks may be reluctant to lend to someone with less experience on larger deals unless you have a proper team in place and they are comfortable with the management team. 

@Lazaro Dinh you should check out one of Scott Meyers Self Storage Academies. It is a pretty thorough up to date seminar on the storage industry geared toward beginners

Is there anybody that can recommend an operational consultant for a growing self storage business? Namely, we are looking to take a 5 store portfolio and grow it and would be interested in seeing who may be able to speak to best practices, etc, from an operational standpoint as we look to expand our reach. 

pleasant ridge is a great part of town but of course, there are better blocks and not as great blocks. I would not say this building is in the prime part of the neighborhood but it is still not a bad area and has good potential. The whole pleasant ridge area is on the upswing, but some blocks a bit more than others

one thing about student housing is that i would be very cautious about which markets you may choose at this time. 

In about 3-4 years the millennial generation will be all through college and gen Z will be in full force. Problem is that gen z is significantly smaller which means fewer kids in college and enrollments around the country will significantly dip. 

Some markets will be fine but some of the smaller college towns will definitely suffer.