Scott Meyers says there’s more opportunity with self storage than there is with any other form of rental real estate.
There are tens of millions of units available today. It’s a $220 billion dollar industry. One in ten households has at least one self storage unit that they pay for. And demand is always on the rise (humans are pack rats, he jokes).
What else do you need to know?
Read on for my Self Storage Academy review.
If you compare it to apartments, self storage gets you approximately 400% greater returns.
Scott would know. He’s been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
And where did it get him? To the verge of bankruptcy, that’s where.
But after investing in his first self storage facility, he saw the light and quit single families, offices, warehouses, and apartments for good.
He would go on to buy, sell, and convert thousands of self storage units, as well as develop over 400,000 square feet and counting.
Eventually he was asked to speak at some real estate investing groups. That led to more speaking gigs, which led to live workshops, courses, and masterminds.
Scott humbly refers to himself as the nation’s leading educator on self storage investing.
Good for him, right? But how do you launch your own self storage business? Where do you find deals?
Scott’s go-to strategy is sending direct mail to the current owners of self storage units. Targeting mom and pops, not the big regional or national players.
He also suggests partnering with commercial and storage brokers. They can produce an almost endless supply of leads to work.
There’s also business brokers, good old-fashioned Google searches, and a few lesser-known strategies Scott keeps for his students.
The first mistake self storage entrepreneurs make, Scott says, is improper analysis.
They don’t accurately determine what a potential unit is worth, what they should pay for it, what the operating costs are, and how much cash flow it might produce.
Not only that, but like:
- Can the market it’s in even support it?
- What’s the population?
- What are the demographics of those people?
- How great is the demand?
- What are the trends in that area? Job growth, for instance?
- What’s the competition like around there?
And so on and so forth, right?
But let’s say everything checks out. Okay, so how do you fund these bad boys?
Community banks and credit unions are good options, Scott says, because they know the default rate on self storage loans is much lower than it is with, say, apartments or multifamily houses.
If you still can’t get approved, try to work out a deal with the seller. Get them to finance you.
With the right terms, they can still enjoy a check once a month without being hit over the head with capital gains tax.
Or, if all else fails, private lenders.
Or partner with someone who’s got the dough. Sucks to give up equity, but it beats sitting on the sidelines, doing nothing, doesn’t it?
As long as you have a plan in place, you should be fine.
Use an attorney, get an operating agreement, do your due diligence, and have an exit strategy in mind.
Last thing, Scott warns, these aren’t ATM machines.
You can’t just throw down some money, get yourself a few units, then sit back and collect checks.
You’ll need the right processes and systems in place, and you’ll wanna oversee them or find someone else who can do it for you.
To learn more, attend Scott’s self storage masterclass or try to make it to one of his live three-day trainings, called The Self Storage Academy.
Cost for that is $1,997.
There may be an upsell at the end of it.