Maybe it's conjecture on my part, but I think a good agent (good being the operative word) would have encouraged you to start by offering lower and saved you more than 2.5%. 

Franchises work for a reason, but inexperienced operators are why they fail.

I operate across the mid-south/mid-west.

Hi Ricky,Being in operation for 10 years with mid seven figures of assets and NNN leases,it would be wise to speak with your tax advisor regarding if the tax set up should be an LLC, an S-Corp  or a C-Corp.It would also be wise to speak with an asset protection attorney to find out if this is something that might be beneficial to you in that area.

@Luke Spencer I am not on the management side but I can tell you it took 2+ years to fill 300 units at one of our facilities and the other just hit 300 units in 12/13 months so it really depends on the demographics, and local housing market trend, the more people moving in and out the higher the demand for storage.I think if you're looking at a saturated market then the upfront cash to turn the warehouse into self storage is not a good idea but then again, maybe those operators are on back roads ( low visibility ) and don't push google ads well.

Why not take his name off the LLC and put it in your name now while the LLC has $0 of value (or whatever nominal amount your articles of organization or operating agreement say that you contributed)?

Your LLC needs more than 4 pages operating agreement.They are recommended by many but not with me.

My only concern to look out for is that things can go 'rural' pretty quickly if you start venturing outside of town, and most lenders are going to put the brakes on financing if the appraisal lists the property as 'rural' (has to do with what they perceive as the availability of future tenants).Watertown, NY - It probably is as good as you believe, but the lending licensing is pretty tricky up there, so its just  bit more difficult to find lenders that operate up there.

As a smaller, self-managed landlord I think solutions that offer that kind of scheduling/logistics framework are solving for one of the most long-standing self-managed challenges we've had for years: how to scale and systematize operations when you're are landlord or PM out there hustling for your next deal. 

While I have managers handling the daily operations, I still oversee everything remotely.