All Forum Posts by: Mike Carr

I dont have experience with them but have you looked at the Davinci locks from 10 Federal? I heard they are integrated with sitelink and another software platform. 

Like a few people said, a feasibility study is incredibly important to make sure there is demand in the market for additional units. 6-7 sqft per person is the nations average but make sure you understand that this is just an average and that these can vary drastically market to market. Also make sure you have enough liquidity stored away to come out of pocket while you fill up the occupancy. I have heard that new facilities should be able to have 2-3 new rentals per week with the proper marketing channels.

The self storage industry just went through an intense building phase the past few years. There are still new ground up projects happening but they have slowed down because most markets still need to balance out with the new facilities that just opened. 

I would suggest bringing in some sort of 3rd part management if you do not have experience managing these types of facilities. If you plan on taking bank debt, they may require this if you dont have experience. 

Best of luck. Keep us updated on your decisions

"Its a whole new business"- Gene Trowbridge.

Solid book on the fundamentals and legal aspects of syndication. 

Depending on the size you can probably either hire or partner with a 3rd party management company. Most of the "top 100 operators" offer management as well. This would take care of the lack of experience or knowldege on the management/operations side. 

Increase marketing budget. Find a solid self storage deal and partner with an experienced syndicator and put up part of the equity. Then find another deal and partner with a management company and again, put up some equity. While the deals are underway I would attend every self storage event to network. Then use the track record from the deals to syndicate deals on my own...possibly leverage the partnerships again if they work out well.

After a few deals I would start to build out my own team to scale the business.

There are people financing big apartments 100% and paying them off in 8-12 years. They typically go over asking price to make it worthwhile for the seller. I would forget the banks completely if that is your strategy. if you have to bring money in, im sure it wont be hard finding people to put up money for a good solid deal. If they are only putting up 5% im sure you can structure it so its a win win and still keep a lot of the equity. 

People sell properties like this all the time for many many reasons. Freeing up money, getting out of real estate, divorce settlement, bankruptcy, etc. 

Knowing the sellers "why" is great but if you cant use it for leverage in negotiations than all you can do is cover yourself in the due dili phase. Do you inspections, run comps, talk to your agent about everything, bring a contractor through, and most importantly run worst case scenario numbers....if that number is something you can stomach then you are good to go. 

If the numbers work, go for it. If they dont, put in an offer for the number that makes sense to you. If they dont take it then move on. 

Trust, but verify everything the seller says. Sellers fudge numbers, property conditions, and their stories all the time. Take whatever they say with a grain of salt and do all of your homework on the property. Thats the only way to be sure of the property and what you are buying.

Hope that helps. 

I stopped working there a few weeks ago. Best learning experience if my life to be honest. No facilities yet. Im starting a big marketing campaign in the next week or so to start looking for one.

Sitelink is great but the cost is not low so usually you see this with larger facilities. I have heard Easy Storage Solutions mentioned a few times for smaller facilities. 

@Scott Meyers I greatly appreciate the information. I will definitely stop by your track on Wednesday and your both to introduce my self. Looking forward to it.

Thanks