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Every year, self-storage deals die for the same quiet reason. It isn't the market, the site, or the numbers. It's one financing question the buyer never thought to ask until the lender had already said no. Is a storage facility eligible? How does owner-occupancy really work? What does the equity injection look like after the latest SBA rule changes? Can you finance a ground-up build, or only an acquisition? Can you finance the lease-up period? The answers decide whether you c

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With shifting interest rates, updated SBA guidelines, and a rapidly changing economic climate, getting loan approval for your self-storage facility isn't as straightforward as it used to be. Whether you're looking to acquire, build, or expand, knowing what lenders are actually looking for right now is the key to securing funding. Join Storage Authority Franchise and Live Oak Bank for an exclusive live webinar where industry experts break down today’s lending landscape and sha

Yes, it is good to have a detailed buy box that is specific to your goals, your available cash, and your profit minimums. It could include 10 to 30-plus items. Your buy box helps you stay on track and not waste time on researching facilities that do not meet your goals. A good buy box and 7 months of solid effort is the key to finding a facility to buy. Often, half a dozen items are key and will eliminate most facilities; until, of course you find “your facility” 7 Ma

Finding a self-storage facility isn't the hardest part; it’s knowing what to do the moment you find it. Most investors lose money after finding a deal by overpaying, skimping on due diligence, or launching without a clear operations and marketing roadmap. If you weren't able to catch our recent live masterclass with the Storage Authority experts, don't worry, the complete replay is now available to watch on demand! What You’ll Learn in the Masterclass Whether you are under co

The 5-Minute Walk That Could Make You More Money by Josh Parker Here’s a challenge for this week: Take five minutes and walk your facility like you’ve never seen it before. Start at the road and look at everything through a customer’s eyes. Is your signage easy to see? Is the landscaping clean? Does the office look inviting? Are there weeds, faded signs, dirty doors, burned-out lights, or clutter you’ve simply gotten used to seeing? Here’s the important part: Don’t just take

By Marc Goodin, Looks good but - a map is a better choice. Self-storage buyers are using a compass when they should be using a map. The problem with a compass is it does not tell you the next step. You have to figure it out and decide on the next steps yourself. And it is too late to use a compass when you are lost in the woods and do not know which direction you came from or need to head toward. Most people are not to good at using a compass. A map, on the other hand, pr

You Found the Facility. Now What? Finding a self-storage facility that fits your buy box is exciting. Buying it successfully is where the real work begins. From the trenches, we know the biggest mistakes often happen after an investor finds the right property. Paying too much, missing critical due diligence, failing to follow up, or opening the doors without a solid marketing plan can turn a great opportunity into a costly lesson. That is why we have broken the process down i

Finding the facility is only the beginning. Before you make an offer, you need to answer some critical questions: • What’s really driving the underperformance? • How much upside is actually there?• Are rents below market? • Is occupancy the problem, or operations? • What can be improved in the first 90 days? • Most importantly… does the deal still work after the turnaround plan? Too many buyers focus on the acquisition price. Smart buyers focus on the opportunity after acquis

Your offer was accepted. Now what? Simple: complete your checklists day and night. What is the catch? The catch is most buyers do not have the full checklists. This leads to delays and lost income. And sometimes a lack of pre- and post-closing checklists can lead to important items being missed and even to financial problems. The pre-closing items may require input and information from the owner and your attorney. Having the lists will also help make an offer. The

By Garrett Byrd Storage Authority Franchise What if the self-storage facility that fits your buy box is not perfect? Maybe occupancy is low. Rents are below market. Marketing is weak. Technology is outdated. The property needs work. Or the current owner simply stopped doing the things necessary to maximize the facility's potential. That does not necessarily make it a bad acquisition. It may be the opportunity. The challenge is financing both the acquisition and the turnaround

Becoming successful in self-storage is not luck. It is math. If your probability of finding land or an existing facility is 1/100 and you try 100 times (with facilities in your buy-build box), you have a 100% chance of success. You can run a company worth over $10,000,000, with an income of over $100,000/month, with 1.5 employees. It’s called self-storage Relax. Work like crazy. It is not a competition. There has been a 70% decline in self-storage construction since

If you missed us live during our latest session, you can watch the full replay here. Most first-time commercial real estate investors waste dozens of hours analyzing facilities that should have been rejected in under 15 minutes. Without a strict evaluation framework, you risk falling into "analysis paralysis" or, worse, overpaying for an underperforming asset. The secret to acquiring a high-performing property faster isn't reviewing more deals, it's establishing a clear "Buy

by Josh Parker No, we didn't replace or eliminate any staff. In fact, it was all hands on deck- and a good thing too- when three customers, all in a hurry, wanted to rent units at the same time. We had two storage experts helping customers at the desk, and another with a customer walking them through their rental at the kiosk. For our busy customers, that meant no waiting and less stress. Bonus points to the kiosk, it was easy, scanned their ID, took payment, and it was actua

They are broken down into these 5 categories: 1) Your data & goals 2) Banking data 3) Facility type 4) Eight value-added options 5) Financials Without these items in place, most people have next to no chance of finding an existing self-storage facility that meets these needs. And even if you do find a facility to purchase, these items would have saved you time and given you the confidence to provide an offer and buy the facility. Buying the right property at the right

By Garrett Byrd Storage Authority Franchise If you’re looking to get into self-storage, ignore the glossy “buy a perfect Class A facility and collect passive income” narrative. That’s institutional territory. The real opportunity for individuals sits in the messy middle: older or under-managed properties where the previous owner left money on the table. Why Value-Add Beats Everything Else for New Entrants Self-storage rewards operators who can improve NOI more than almost any

Now is the best time ever to buy land with approved self-storage plans because there are so many on the market, if you know how to look. There is a significant amount of land for sale with approved self-storage plans. More than I have seen in a long while. While Storage Authority has never had a project denied, it is still comforting knowing the risk of spending time and money will not end in a project denied by the city. People believe an approved site saves time and mon

By Garrett Byrd When professionals evaluate real estate investments, they often face a frustrating dilemma: traditional real estate projects like multifamily residential or single-family rentals require either full-time attention or heavy reliance on third-party property managers who don't care about your bottom line. If you are looking to build long-term wealth, generate recurring income, and secure early retirement without abandoning your current career, self-storage franch

Most real estate investors fail to acquire a self-storage facility for one simple reason: they lack a clearly defined Buy Box. Without a precise, written list of criteria, you end up wasting countless hours analyzing properties that were never going to work in the first place. You get overwhelmed by options, fall into analysis paralysis, and ultimately walk away empty-handed. To succeed in self-storage, you need a system that helps you reject bad deals quickly so you can focu

Here's your 2-week, old-school marketing challenge: Week 1: pick five local businesses within five miles of your facility; Week 2: visit all 5. Introduce yourself, hand them a few business cards, leave behind a small gift or treats for the staff, and simply let them know, "Here are a few ways we can help you, and help your customers." Keep it short. Don't ask for business. Build a relationship. Every self-storage facility can buy the same Google ads. Very few managers are wil