All Forum Posts by: Justin Frank

@Nik Moushon

I think storage is a great investment however, I will agree with @Greg Dickerson in that storage is extremely popular right now which is making buying a bit more risky and difficult. I once thought my sole focus would be storage but because it seems such a large pool of people are investing in storage i am moving to other real estate investment strategies. Not trying to lead you away from storage or scare you but as Greg stated, make sure you do your research.  I will continue to invest in storage but i don’t think it will be my main focus.  With all that being said, there are so many great (free) resources on sites like YouTube which would be a great start. Also talking to guys who are currently doing it like @Michael Wagner or @Scott Meyers are good resources. I also find just stopping in to talk to storage managers (if they are willing) is very helpful. If you need feasibility for development I would recommend contacting Lyn Prather at Sound Storage Management. She is great and has tons of experience with management and feasibility. 

I agree with @Courtney Jones  

I live in Washington State. As a new investor the competition here is too fierce and too expensive. I am working on investing out of state however have no desire to move. Just need to find the right out of state market and build a team in that area. 

Thank you @Gary Volmar 

I would need way more information than this but the location is a great start 

@Gary Volmar 

I agree with what Kirk has to say. A little more information would be helpful. With that being said a very good beginning first step would be to speak with a realtor. If you don’t want to use a realtor I would be willing to add a MF to my portfolio depending on location, and asking price. 

@Kathy Argento

Nice work on this deal. Sounds like there were some stressful moments but you had a good plan in place so it all worked out for you well. That’s great!! I have debating investing long distance in the Cleveland area however I have yet to do so. Will you invest in this area again or was this a one time deal? 

Justin 

@Joshua Watts

Thank you so much for your detailed response to my questions. I was recently looking into a conversion of a 44,000sq/ft building. Hearing how you evaluated the deal is very informative. Thanks again Josh. Competition is fierce in the Pacific NW right now. I am hoping my patience will pay off like yours did. 

Hi @Joshua Watts, thanks for your posts. They make me both a bit jealous and inspired 😏. How many units will you be able to fit in this building and how many will you add each phase? Also, did you have a demand/feasibility study performed before you purchased this building with the intentions of adding storage or did you just know that more storage was needed in your area because you had a good of demand based off other facilities you own? Again, thanks for the posts. They are really motivating. 

Hi @Sarah Gootgeld, 

I currently own storage in Lewis county and am always looking for more investments in this area. 

Justin 

@Keli Coleman

Speak with Stacia Taylor at Olympic Lending Solutions. She is so creative when it comes to financing. I use her for everything. The BRRRR strategy is very hard in Washington State right now. If you don't mind me asking, Are you buying in state or out of state and how are you finding your deals? Feel free to contact me directly for Stacia's info. Not a guarantee that she can help but she is great. Great person to know if you are looking for investment loans

@Lynnette E.

Maybe you are just looking at it from a negative point of view. It would be silly to pay some one as an employee for 49 units and the idea of paying someone to stay for the first 5 days of the month to collect rent and rent out units would not work very well simply because People come in at all different times to rent.  The beauty of technology is that you can have everything a customer needs online to view which eliminates needed employees. What I am saying is either manage it yourself or find someone who would be a type of property manager. Pay someone a small fee to go do the small things like clean out a unit, or lockout a unit. You would be surprised the amount of people out there who are willing to do a little extra simple work for a few dollars.  There really isn’t much to storage and most things required don’t take much time at all. You could even offer a tenant at your complex extra work to do the basics you feel you may need an employee for. There really isn’t much work to be done around a storage facility. Especially a facility with only 49 units. It is very hard to get into details within this post. My personal opinion is that there wouldn’t be much time required to operate those units that would bring you an extra $2k/month minus what pay someone to help around the facility every now and then. If you don’t think it’s possible, or can’t understand how it will work then bail on the idea. You know your property much better than myself. Personally I wouldn’t mind adding $20k a year to my income. I wouldn’t mind adding even half that. I typed this while trying to entertain my daughter. I hope this makes sense and isn’t offensive in any way