Firefighter + Self-Storage Operator - 12 Facilities, 4 States

[Kevin Rapport]

Hey everyone - Kevin here. I've been lurking on BP for a while and figured it was time to actually introduce myself.

I'm a full-time firefighter in California. I bought my first property at 19 during the 2008 crash - a single-family rental I had no business buying. That turned into a small SFR portfolio, which led to multifamily, which led to self-storage and industrial.

Today I own and operate 12 self-storage facilities across 4 states. All acquired while working a full-time W-2. No syndication. Married with 3 young kids.

A few things that define how I invest:

I buy in rural and secondary markets - small towns where $300K-$1.5M facilities still exist and REITs aren't competing. I prefer seller financing when I can get it. My best deals have come from direct-to-owner conversations, not brokers.

I'm also a hard money lender on the side through a separate LLC, which gives me a different lens on deal structure and risk.

Right now I'm focused on transitioning from active operator to strategic owner - building systems so the portfolio runs without me being in the weeds every day. That's the real challenge at this stage.

I'm here to learn from others, share what I know, and connect with people who are serious about building something real. Self-storage has been a game-changer for my family and I'm happy to talk about it with anyone who's curious.

Looking forward to being part of the community.

[Jay Toluganti]

Kevin, really impressive journey — especially building 12 facilities while working full-time and raising a family.

I’m curious about your experience with the smaller rural facilities. Many people advise avoiding facilities under ~20k sqft, but it sounds like you’ve built a portfolio around them.

A couple things I’d love to hear your perspective on:

• Are the smaller facilities performing well financially, or do some struggle to cover debt/service payments?  
• When you structure seller financing, does the facility income usually cover the payments to the seller?  
• Have you been able to automate most operations (gates, payments, collections) and manage remotely without major issues?

Would love to hear how that’s worked in practice. Thanks for sharing your experience.