Mini storage building

[Matt Lane]

I am looking into mini storage buildings. My initial question is about the contract/forms that anyone renting the storage unit would have to fill out. Are there templates or does anybody have a template that I can look at or possibly use?

[Henry Clark]

@Matt Lane

Matt, I always like to look back over other people's posts before I respond.  Looks like you're trying to ramp up your investments fairly quickly.  Thus far you're looking at Self Storage above, Condo, and buying new trailers to rent.

Recommend you put investing on pause for a month. Regroup.  Decide which avenue you want to invest your time into for about 3 years to build expertise in one.

If you choose not to narrow your focus down, then:

Self-Storage- read all the posts, podcasts, books, etc.  Contracts are probably one of the last things you want to worry about.  My recommendation is make an outline or list of all facets of self-storage as you're going through all this info.  Example: Contracts, taxes, fences, buildings, zoning, etc.  Also recommend you search out some sort of training.  Normally I would say learn on your own, but if you're in a hurry then better to learn from other people's mistakes.  

Condo's- you were asking if leverage is still good. REI is all about leverage.

Trailers- The money is in the lot rental, not the trailer. Your buying new trailers. Part of REI is to scale. You do that through either Appreciation or cash flow stream. New Trailers don't Appreciate. Go to your banker with your Trailer detail. Say it is two years older than it really is. Ask them to make a loan against it as collateral. See how they value it, versus the new price. If your value is decreasing, then it is harder to leverage for your next deals. The trailer park is willing to give you $7,000 if you contract to leave it there for 4 years. I'm not in the Trailer business, our family was years ago. But I would give you $7,000 to park in my trailer lot if I owned one if you signed a contract for 2 years only. You need to understand why I would do that. Always ask what is in it for the other person. Actually, I would pay you $7,000 if you just signed for one year.

Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early.

[Ronald Rohde]

A lawyer can prepare a good form, or Storage groups often provide a form for their members.

[Michael Margarella]

You can likely obtain a form lease from your state association.  But, a lawyer can draft you an ironclad lease agreement for a fairly nominal fee.  If you're planning to operate primarily in one market for now, having an ironclad lease tailored to your state is well worth the expense.