All Forum Posts by: Henry Clark
Henry Clark has started 209 posts and replied 4075 times.
Post: Self Storage Newbee - please help

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
Use these templates to digest the deal.
Storage Startup Checklist 101 | |||
Response to Zagreb, Croatia startup | |||
1 | Why Do Storage? | ||
2 | Why Storage? Why you? | I’ll do a separate Topic. Don’t know your financial’s, but you will outstrip your collateralization fast. Develop a relationship with someone you trust and bring them along for the ride. Preferably an Apartment developer. They don’t have to invest in the first project, but you will need them later. Make sure this a solid relationship, otherwise they will cut you out once your successful. | |
3 | Market/Demand: | ||
4 | Market size | See post, if your the “first”, then you don’t care. You have more than enough Market, in a 800,000 Pop city. | |
5 | Outside or climate controlled? | Let your search and “deal” decide. Look for both an outside Land acquisition or an old industrial building. If you get a large enough building, finish it out in stages. | |
6 | Market location | Seek your higher income areas first. Pick along the A2, A3, A4 corridors first. Stay away from the mountains. Do several small locations, no smaller than 1 hectare. Once you have the experience and Financial support, go for a Climate controlled location in an old neighborhood that is high income or rebuilding itself. | |
7 | Zoning | See post | |
8 | Site location | Have several searches and deals going at once, most of them won’t pan out for the price you are willing to pay. This way you “can walk away”. This gives you negotiating power. | |
9 | Site acquisition | ||
10 | Financing: | See “Topic” | |
11 | Financing-construction | Find a banker who knows Apartment building construction | |
12 | Financing- rent up stage | Same as above. You want “interest only” and not principal for a portion of the rent up period. | |
13 | Financing- long-term | If your going to grow, unless you have significant capital at your disposal, find a future business partner. | |
14 | Business Model | I’ll clean up and post one of my spreadsheets later. | |
15 | Construction: | Use local knowledge/availability | |
16 | Permits | ||
17 | Building type | ||
18 | Building manufacturer | ||
19 | Contractor | ||
20 | Day to day: | ||
21 | Rental Contract | Post a “Topic” on this Forum and ask for some copies sent to you. | |
22 | Rental Rates | Zagreb’s GDP per capita is $19,132 versus where I live $60,246 metro area of 1mm. Thus if I say a 10 x 20 “Foot, not meter” unit is $120, then yours would be around $40. Making this simplistic. Get on Sparefoot and pick a US city similar to Zagreb and pick out prices for 10 x 20/15/10/5. Then take 1/3 of that for your price in US $, then convert. Recommend you don’t use this as your starting prices; go after a richer neighborhood and charge higher prices. | |
23 | Auction rules | Post a “Topic” on this Forum and ask for some copies sent to you. | |
24 | Security system | Situational, work with your local security firm. | |
25 | Fencing | situational | |
26 | Self Service or manager | situational | |
27 | Management software | Since the world is internet based, see if you can use one of the Storage management softwares in Zagreb. Do not do this on a spreadsheet or paper. You need to develop a system to grow with. | |
28 | Marketing: | ||
29 | Website | check ClarkstorageLLC, and others on this forum. Take the best from each and make a template, for a better one. | |
30 | SEO management | Since your the only one, you just need Google Map Pins and build up your google ranking under key words. | |
31 | Marketing Software | Sparefoot or similar in your market area. If none exist for Storage, seek out Apartment, home, AIRBNB, Craigslist sites. If you have Craigslist, put an add out there with your offering and price. Different sizes and prices. Get feedback. | |
32 | Marketing | Something you probably already know. | |
33 | Social Media | Something you probably already know. | |
34 | Insurance: | Leave to you for local knowledge | |
35 | Business | ||
36 | Renters | ||
Sundry: | Leave to you for local knowledge | ||
Property taxes | |||
Legal system |
This is an example, for discussion only. | |||||
Adjust to local estimates | |||||
Green change or fill in. | |||||
Combination PL/Cash flow | |||||
Intentionally leaving out Depreciation and Taxes | |||||
Annual | Notes: | ||||
Revenue: | |||||
Gross | $354,240 | @ 90%, after rent up period | |||
Late fees | $0 | as needed | |||
$354,240 | |||||
Electricity | $2,400 | ||||
Water | $400 | ||||
Sewer | $300 | ||||
Grass | $1,000 | ||||
snow removal | as needed | ||||
manager | as needed, I do self service by phone; do you pay yourself. | ||||
maintenance | $3,000 | ||||
Insurance | $3,000 | Property/Liability | |||
Property Tax | $25,000 | use local | |||
Loan P/I | $120,000 | Get your bank to do 20 year amort, adjust based on how much equity you have to put in 10%/15/25/40/etc. | |||
Depreciation | left blank for Cash analysis | ||||
Cash out | $155,100 | ||||
Pre tax | $199,140 | ||||
Tax | $59,742 | as needed, adjust Loan P/I for Depreciation expense | |||
Net cash | $139,398 | ||||
Payback: | |||||
Total Cost: | $2,170,933 | ||||
Less Equity infusion: | $217,093 | 10/15/25/40% | |||
Net loan position | $1,953,839 | ||||
Annual cash flow | $139,398 | ||||
Payback years: | 14.0 | ||||
Financial Objectives: | |||||
Change calc/terminology etc to your objectives. Example: cap rate, etc. | |||||
I normally shoot for an 8 to 12 year payback, with a 20 year loan amortization. | |||||
This is based on the location/deal on hand. Any improvements in performance on top of that will be gravy. | |||||
My 8 to 12 objective will be met once Phase 2 is completed, versus the 14.0 years shown above. | |||||
Phase 2 is where you make your real money. I always have phase 1 pay off | |||||
the land, fence, Electrical, sewer, grading, etc. | |||||
How many phases or units should you build to start? | |||||
You can always build more buildings. I always shoot for 65% occupancy covers all initial costs for Phase1. | |||||
In this example, I would probably only build the first 15/30/40 buildings. |
This is an example, for discussion only. | |||||||
A. Project Cost estimate from ground up. | |||||||
B. P/L revenue stream | |||||||
C. Valuation Buy/Sell | |||||||
Adjust all of the above to your local market and situation. | |||||||
A. Self Storage Project Worksheet | |||||||
Drive up Storage | |||||||
Notes: | |||||||
Land | $200,000 | 4 acres at $50,000/acre | |||||
Survey | $7,000 | Site, elevation and building layout | |||||
Fence | $30,000 | Black chainlink | |||||
Gate system | $25,000 | Automated rolling 20ft | |||||
Engineer | if needed; $30,000 to $60,000 | ||||||
Dirt work | $15,000 | Slight roll, no dirt brought on site | |||||
Building demo | if needed, $15,000 to $60,000 | ||||||
Electrical- site | $7,000 | building lighting and office if needed, LED. | |||||
Electric poles | if needed; $2,000 per pole. First is free if nearby. | ||||||
Security | $10,000 | ||||||
Storm drains | if needed; $50,000 to $150,000 | ||||||
Water | if needed; $5,000 just plumbing | ||||||
Water line | ?? if an extension could be $10,000 up to $150,000 | ||||||
Fire Hydrant | if needed, $3,000 | ||||||
Sewer | if needed: $5,000 plumbing | ||||||
Sewer Line | if needed; $10,000 up to ???? | ||||||
Buildings | $1,180,800 | Phase 1 2 acres | |||||
Office | if needed, plain storage unit 20x30; $25,000 insulated. | ||||||
Office setup | if needed, $5,000- computers, printers, HVAC, frig, cabinets, etc | ||||||
Footings | if needed. ?????? | ||||||
Roads | |||||||
Gravel | if needed, ????? | ||||||
Asphalt | if needed, ????? | ||||||
Concrete | $676,133 | 6 inch Cubic yards, framed, poured, sawn, | |||||
Retention Pond | if needed, part of dirt work cost, less land for buildings | ||||||
Landscaping | $5,000 | I like trees and bushes. Less sterile | |||||
Road Sign | $15,000 | For highway 55mph billboard sign | |||||
Total | $2,170,933 |
Post: Self Storage Newbee - please help

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
Everything everybody has said is true, "but not for you".
Lets eat this Elephant, one bite at a time. And it is an Elephant.
YOU:
A. Why are you different? Business experience. Jumped off the cliff into business. Have two locations and you own them. Financially you should be in a good position. Critical thinking skill set. You already have succeeded or failed/learned from 75% of all "business" issues. Your not starting at zero as an investor or business person. You just need to learn Self Storage.
Every person should want to be a Doctor, Dentist, Lawyer, Engineer or Indian Chief. Not really. Because if they stop working, no income comes in. If they want to get more income, they have to hire people and start a business. They have to feed the "Animal". You want Passive Income.
B. I don't know you. My cousin has two Dental practices in Houston. Very wealthy and well to do. He has a problem though, he has to keep feeding the Animal. Wants to retire or back off when he is 60. Luckily his son has joined his practice and is learning. He will reduce his hours and at some point sell or give up his practice to his son.
C. "Don't Answer." What is your game plan? At what age? Have you and your spouse asked, When is enough, enough? How do we get to enjoy our wealth? Etc. Etc. Now is the time to answer those questions and put a game plan and action in place.
D. "Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early". If you read most of my posts, I end with that suggestion. Why am I recommending you don't do that? Read A thru C. Existing Experience, Financial position, Age/life cycle, critical thinking skill set.
E. You already recognize there will be a ramp up stage where you personally invest more time in the development. You could start doing SFH/MFH, but it will take you years to learn it and a lot of personal time. Plus half of the Return, is the fun of hunting/landing the property, staying under budget and then getting it rented. You can't invest that much time and would not enjoy it since you have to long term trade off Dental work, which pays more and is comfortable. Doing a large storage location is a one time event over 12 months during the development Phase 1. Phase 2 thru how many, takes very little effort. You already know all of the answers and who is going to do it.
How much are you willing to lose?:
You actually have two questions above. How much time in your life cycle are you willing to lose to reach your passive income level? How much money are your willing to lose?
Life Cycle- how much cash flow do you need to stop being a dentist or to go part time. At some point you sell your practice and work part time so you can invest and enjoy your life style. How many years do you have to develop a passive income plan to hit that number? A large storage location gets you there quicker than almost any other investment. Remember, I'm not selling you anything.
How much are you willing to lose?- First of all, if you don't do something in the next year, you're never doing a Passive investment plan. Your financial life is to easy. Its pre-set, and you know it. Again, I don't know you. Positive- So how much money are you willing to lose, to achieve your life cycle on the timeline you want? $50,000; $100,000; $200,000 etc. Negative- At that number, will your kids still get to go to college? Will you still be able to vacation? Will you still have a profitable Dental practice? Etc, Etc. That is the number you are looking for.
Lets go Barbecue some Elephant:
Before we get started and fire up the grill, lets see if we need to stop. Get the following answers on the 14 acres:
a. Is it zoned correctly?
b. Is it in a flood plain? No point in building if you have to get flood insurance. Go find another piece of ground.
c. What is the storage unit market there? How many people in a 3 and then a 5 mile radius? How many storage units are there?
d. How are you financing? What is your LTV%? SBA 10%; SBA 20%; Conventional 25%; Conventional 40%. You need to know how much cash or collateralization at 65% value you need.
Lets Fire up the Grill:
a. 14 acres- your not going to use all 14 acres.
1. A 14 acre site is as rare as "Anodontia".,
2. Your radius will not support 244,000 sq ft of storage. Even if it could you would have other competition in the market and have the extreme risk of a big REIT coming into your market and devaluing your operation. (High Risk),
3. Size of your location. For a manager you will need at least 300 units, which is about 4 to 5 acres depending on the shape of the land. About 120 units per 2 acres. If doing Boat/RV's, then another 3 to 4 acres.
4. Again depending on the shape, size, entrances, and visibility of the land, recommend you immediately Subdivide and sell portions. If possible you keep a large frontage and then the entire back section of the property. Sell off the road frontages, that can use the visibility. Basically you want an L shaped property, with the toe being your access to the highway and the storage.
b. Lets build:
1. Do in phases, let the shape of the land and the driveways determine how you will build. But plan on building out as you need them. Can run the numbers, but at a minimum you will need to build at least 300 units to support a manager (part time, weekends you cover for now, to learn). 24 hour phone service(part timer and you).
2. Big cost issues. Find out if you need water or sewer access. Road type, concrete or rock. Don't do asphalt in Florida. Storm ponds or drainage. You have to build for run off, can't have flat drives in your area, especially for the long driveways you would have on a 14 acre site.
c. Financing:
1. Lets start with 4 acres of land. @$100,000 /acre= $400,000; yes, you need to finance the rest of the land.
2. 330 units at $3,200 erected= $1,056,000; Steel is increasing 25% now.
3. Concrete driveways- $400,000
4. Fence/automated gate- $60,000
5. Electric- $50,000
6. Security- $60,000
7. Office- $35,000 with furnishings
8. Engineering- $50,000
9. Dirt work- really depends. You said flat, so go with $30,000
10. Is Electric/water/sewer/fire service available? If not add $20,000 up to $250,000 more.
11. Talk with you Finance outlet and see what their LTV% is and if you have enough Collateral.
What happens if you get Barbecued?:
Land- $1,500,000; if you sell as is, you will pay 7% commission plus holding costs (interest/property tax) for 1 year. Estimate- $190,000; you lose.
You build out the 4 acres and 330 units. Lets say you have $2,300,000 into it. Your market should be good, otherwise you shouldn't have built in the first place. Then it becomes a question of when you sell. At 30%/50%/70%/90% occupancy. This may sound strange, but that's the market. The day you complete the location, it should be worth about $2,500,000 to $2,700,000 before you rent to one customer. When you get to 90% occupancy, it should be worth about $3,000,000 depending on your rent levels, possibly more. If your in a good market, you should be at 90% in 2 years. Estimate- $0 you lose. It all depends on your analysis of the market at the beginning. Read my post, "Will they come?"
There is nothing in self storage that can't be vetted.
1. Take the above and build an outline or get my Checklist 101 post. Challenge the largest numbers or unknowns first and work your way down.
2. Sign up and go to seminars or classes as soon as possible.
3. Start valuing and analyzing storage properties. Even ones you will not buy. If you don't get this one, buy or build another one. But keep doing the math.
"Don't Start Small and make your big mistakes early." Jump in. You are one of the few people I will tell this, and I don't know you.
Post: Making an offer on a self storage business

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
Your welcome. I'm only here for the next 1 to 1 1/2 years; until we move on to our next investment asset and life style. Please use the Self Storage services and training centers as much as possible. I don't know how much they cost, but I can tell you whatever it costs, I have more than paid for a years worth of training through my learning experiences.
Looks like your already an investor, so the following comment might not be for you.
Growing Wealth takes three things:
a. An Idea.
b. Financing (not necessarily)
c. Someone to jump off the 9-5 cliff.
Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early.
Post: Questions About This Industrial Property Purchase

- Developer
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- Votes 4,127
1. Look at any EPA or hazmat issues first. Know what/who has used the building.
2. At 15,600 your in an "in between" size. Need to go bigger (not an option) or smaller (2,000 Sqft) units. Also look at Parking spots, and access to determine potential usage. This would be a great 5 or 6 unit spot for Contractors (plumbers, electricians, car enthusiasts, etc.
3. Your clear span is okay if you can take out any walls to make single pays larger.
4. Door sizes? 14 foot tall and 12 or 14 wide.
5. Gentrification. If this is in Flourtown, looks like a great location to various areas. See what zoning allows for changes. Your back ground shows SFH/MFH. Change this to industrial condos MFH.
6. This would be a great size for a Craft Beer operation. Production and bar.
Make the offer at an industrial usage; although you might take to a higher value product. Not giving you much help from an industrial standpoint, but I like higher value use conversion. Make the offer "Subject to either rezoning or Special use permit". Put a redeemable earnest money deposit down to hold the offering.
Love taking coal and making diamonds. We mainly do Self storage, but are getting ready to do Contractor bays on 4 acres.
Great project.
Post: Making an offer on a self storage business

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
See the post I did on Self Storage valuation.
Cash flow at 65% occupancy should be zero, including interest and principal; for Phase 1 build. That's on a 20 to 25 year term loan. If your at $500 per month on 87.5% occupancy, I would walk away.
Do a cost to build on the Storage units. I'm going with a 2 to 3 acre lot out in the suburbs or countryside. $3,200 erected per unit; 3 acres at $??,???, Fence 2 acres $20,000; Gate system $15,000; Electric $7,000; Security $7,000; road rock $20,000; driveway entrance $??,???; No water/sewer/storm pond or drain.
Segregate the analysis of the house and the storage. Especially if the house can be subdivided from the storage and sold and managed separately. Analyze the house like you would normally do. Then isolate on the storage.
This is a good size location to start with. Determine if Self Storage is something you want to do. I like to stay in my "lane" and not have several different types of businesses going at once. Or if your market is small there, then you might need more "Lanes".
Find out why he is only 87.5% full. Either the market is not big enough. Or he is not marketing correctly. Or he just added new units. 87.5% full from a unit, economic or sq foot standpoint? If it is from a unit standpoint and most of the vacants are 5 x10's; but the economic occupancy it 95% then different questions arise.
Changing rates is not that big of an issue. As people noted above, where are they going to go? Its the middle of winter, also. If you are sensitive to the potential for people leaving, then do it in segments. Example: Do it by unit size, every 2 months a different size increase. Or do it on all new contracts. Or do it based on Lowest rates first or long term renters first.
This could be a great deal, but analyze your market. What is the population size and how many units are in the immediate area? Raising rents even $10 per unit has a large impact on the analysis. If your market can support it, do a Phase 2. This will only take a 35% occupancy to breakeven/payoff. Added to Phase 1, this makes the total deal more attractive.
Check with your bank if they are willing to take a Second position on the property, if the owner does a loan on the down payment. Don't ask the owner for a loan. Just have the balance due 5 years out with zero % interest as part of the sale.
Don't buy the "business". Buy the assets. Have the assets listed separately on the contract. House/roads/buildings/fence/electrical/security/signage/landscaping/etc. That way it is easier to do year one writeoffs and not have to do a Cost Segregation study. You determine the figures, tell him the figures to use for each of the above. Don't ask, unless he just built all of this and it is fresh on his mind. Try to put as much value as possible away from the house and the storage buildings, to get faster write off. Ask if you can put in a section for a Non Compete agreement so you can move more money away from the house and buildings. You can write it off quicker.
Try for a 10% SBA loan. To hold the deal since SBA can take a while, do a $10,000 earnest money deposit for 6 months.
Great first step into Self Storage.
Post: Self Storage- Valuation

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
@sarah andrews; follow up to your post and @steve c comments.
Response to question, “How are Self Storage locations valued?”. I will go with a multiple response answer.
Simple answer: If you look out on Loopnet, most Self Storage listings will show Cap rate.
Layered answer: I'm just talking about Mom/Pop and not REIT valuations. Most of them list for what they "think" it is worth, with no financial development of their listing price. Basically blood/sweat/tears valuation. Most of them have only owned and will only sell one location.
Integrity of Cap rate or data: I would look at the source or realtor behind the listing first. If a National self storage realtor, then they will most likely have challenged the data behind the Cap Rate. If a local Realtor they may not have cleansed the data. I looked at one location that is getting a lot of attention, and Property taxes and Management fees were not included in the Cap Rate calculation. They weren't trying to hide anything, they were just going with the info supplied from the owner.
Valuation method, who cares: There is a lot of REI cash sloshing around for self storage, thus a financial approach to valuing an asset is probably not the best approach for a listing price. You as an investor, however have to make sure the numbers work for your goals. I've evaluated several properties "List”/ “price I would offer” = $1,000,000/$600,000; $1,250,000/$1,000,000; $2,500,000/$1,800,000; $1,350,000/$800,000. They will probably get their price, just not from me. Currently “Developing” is a better investment than buying. But Developing is not in everyone's tool chest or timeline.
Our financial targets are 8 to 12 year payback/off, including interest/principal; with a 20/25 year term loan.
When evaluating a property from a Financial standpoint your major items are:
a. Revenue and is it sustainable.- audit the rent roll. Past dues, and length of rentals, last price increase. How many are the owners.
b. Property Tax- google local tax rate and also look at GIS map with tax info.
c. Insurance- use rough $2,000 per $500,000 valuation
d. Management- depends self service or onsite.
e. Electric/upkeep/grass/snow- estimate
Throw all of the
above info out, except both of our financial targets.
Evaluating a property, the following are the steps we go through:
1. Financial targets met?
2. Develop financial data our self, other than Revenue figures. Your biggest numbers are noted above in “a” thru “e” above.
3. Value assessment. Lets compare two locations with the exact same net income and buildings. Both listed at $1,500,000 with cap rates of 6%; they both hit your financial targets. Both are in two different locations(A/B). I pick “B”. Why?
- B, has two extra acres tied to it. We can add 130 more units. Which has a payoff of 3.5 years once full and an occupancy of 35% needed to break even (including interest/principal).
- B, last raised their rents four years ago. $10 per unit increase on a $80 unit, increases your cash flow around 30%, and may reduce your total project payoff by 2 years, approximations.
- B, is not automated. Move to autopay, reduce your work load/management costs.
- B, has truck and packaging sales. Get rid of it and reduce management costs.
- B, has a two way intersection, with pull out lanes. C, does not have a cross over intersection.
- C, is in a market with 10 units/100 people; B, is in a market with 4 units/100 people.
- B, is in a hilly area, with almost no zoning for Self storage and in the middle of neighborhoods. C is in a flat industrial area, where anyone can build storage and away from the neighborhoods. Evaluate zoning maps, zoning codes, future zoning plans.
4. Risk Assessment. The last two items above are your risk assessment.
Don't tell the seller. I am willing to pay an extra $200,000
for "B". When you look at locations listed, they won't tell
you the items noted in 3 above. Don't get hung up on the COC, NOI,
Cap rate, etc. Verify they hit your "numbers". Challenge the
data, then evaluate the properties on their merits.
Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early.
Post: General ROI on storage units

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
My family did a Trailer park for about 10 years. We are now in Self Storage.
Short answer Self Storage is better on all metrics you noted above. As mentioned by Steve Cheslock, higher barrier to entry, both dollars and zoning.
Long answer, can't answer you:
ROI, is relative to how you bought in, Self Storage or MFH. Are you talking the same market for both.
Vermont is too wide a spread of Economics. Are you talking Manchester, Concord, Portsmouth; basically the Boston market. Or Middlebury, Lincoln, Hanover. Both Self Storage and MFH are very location specific on both their Land/Unit and Rental price.
Realize the same can be said for MFH (BRRR), but on your 100-120 unit location (2 acres) you have both the Development gain of $100,000 to $200,000 just building the location and getting operational. Plus the ongoing returns. Other than Land price, it would cost the same to build in no matter what town your in, expensive (Portsmouth) or inexpensive (Hanover). If you buy in at the correct price, your return will be greater in Portsmouth or Manchester. Your rent will be double. Even if your land price is double, your return will be higher since the building/fence/security/electrical/etc will be the same.
The really big swings in building a Storage location are: Footings required, Concrete/Asphalt roads or rock, Sewer/water required for bathroom, fire hydrant required, storm retention pond or drainage, etc. These will impact your ROI comparison.
On your ROI calculation, Self Storage-
Building maintenance- zero;
Snow/road/grass maintenance;
Property Tax/Insurance ($2,000/yr)/electric lights/Interest Expense
Management fee- we do it ourselves, but for comparable charge something. We spend about 25 hours per week on 800 units, including grass cutting/snow removal/weeds/customer calls- self service.
Advertising- we don't do any, but use Sparefoot (about .5% overall).
Depreciation/Taxes- leave to you. We do early depreciation and shoot for negative returns the first 1.5 years depending on year one write offs.
We don't think about ROI. Our objective is a location with an 8 to 12 year payback (payoff-including debt/interest); on a 20 to 25 year term loan. We look at cash flow. Buy or develop, and hold. Plus market appreciation (which actually occurs immediately upon opening) on the backside.
Post: Self Storage- Bit Hat, Little Cattle; or the Cattle Cycle

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
"“Build” Self Storage in Texas, California, Oregon and
Washington.”
One dot means nothing, two dots is a possible trend, three or more
dots in the same direction is a trend.
Hindsight is always 20/20. You can’t read the future (actually you
can, read the Cattle Cycle). Etc, etc.
Forget the politics, this is about Real Estate.
Couple of things occurred in the last month around me. Most of you
probably have known this for years. California, Oregon and
Washington folks are either moving themselves or their money to Texas
and Colorado; and I have no clue why, Ohio.
A:
Occurrences or Dots:
- Tonight a prospective renter called to confirm they would have two 10 x 20 units available. Talked with them for a little and asked where they were coming from, California. Said they and their kids are selling two houses and moving back to where they were raised. Will miss the climate, but couldn’t wait to get out of the state.
- Joined Bigger Pockets a while back. Building our last Self
Storage location and thought I would share our experiences. Normally
don’t do social media or forums; and just watch the local news.
This whole movement of people and money became evident as I browsed
through posts.
- Went down near San Antonio to help a friend get into the Self
Storage business. I was expecting prices to be cheap down there,
because they are going through an "Oil Bust" period right now.
Been through one before, when I lived in Houston and Dallas, thus I
have personal experience. But I was amazed that houses were super
high and land was super high. They should be dirt cheap. Talked
with three different banks and they all required LTV 40%. I can get
25% any day of the week where I'm at. The 40% actually made sense,
since these banks are invested in an Oil economy, thus they need to
be more conservative in a down cycle. Here is the catch. Texans,
can't be supporting these high prices because of the Oil Bust, it
has to be coming from outside.
- Was talking with a business acquaintance in Austin. I always ask
folks how is business going. Said his business is doing great, but
personally he just got up-ended. Young couple, just had a baby and
decided they needed a house versus apartment. Made an offer $10,000
above asking price. Called the Realtor 2 days later to see what was
up. They had 17 offers above the asking price and it was probably
going $100,000 above list price. He knew he had been priced out of
the market in his home state.
- Another friend down there was talking about valuing his house. He
knew current sales, he should be around $650,000 to $700,000. But
the Realtor with comps only was showing $400,000. Didn’t make
sense in an Oil Bust economy.
- Talked with three Texas banks on financing. They all wanted 40%
LTV. I told them I can get 25% all day long in Iowa, what's the deal.
They said different market. Probably since all things are oil based
in Texas, they have had to get conservative and increase their LTV%.
Which means unless you bring money (California/Oregon/Washington)
into Texas it will be hard to get finance.
Conclusion or Perception:
It should always be great when your house value is rising. The young people won’t like it though, because it is harder to get into the market. The old folks/fixed income won’t like it when their tax valuations start to increase. So who likes it? People who sell a small condo or house for $1mm, and then buy a huge house and acreage for $700,000 in the country side, with no state income tax.
B:
Being a TEXAN: Message- Be Careful investing in Texas Self Storage.
First of all, I’m not a Texan. Grew up in Louisiana. All of my
relatives are from Texas. Baytown, Goose Creek, Clute, Angleton, and
Freeport. Blue collar, oilfield, construction and military.
-What's it like to be a TEXAN. If you ever go to the San Jancinto
monument, you will see a big concrete STAR at the top. Knowing your
grandfather was the one who figured out how to put it up there.
Knowing that when the “PC” folks come to take down the monument,
that it won’t happen. What do all of those STARS on peoples houses
and businesses mean around Texas? A lot.
-Being the Fire Chief at the Tokyo fire station at the beginning of
the Korean War. Knowing you had a cush job and could stay there
while your fellow soldiers went to the Korean War. Going down and
requesting transfer orders to join the Texas outfits heading off to
war, because you had to go with your Texas boys.
-Going on a Sunday picnic in your Model T with your young wife.
Getting yelled at by a young man across the Trinity river, about what
he would do to your wife if he was over there. Being 5ft 5 inches
and 140 pounds and telling him to stay right there and you would be
over to talk with him. Swimming the river, and killing the man with
a knife. BIG HAT, LITTLE CATTLE loud mouth. Finding
out he was a local politicians son and having to leave your family
the next day and go to “No Mans” land between Texas and Louisiana
and start another family.
Why did I tell you about being a TEXAN and not a Californian,
Oregonian, or Washingtonian? I want to stress these are two totally
different markets. As you look for a spot to build Storage in Texas,
Be Careful.
““Build” Self Storage in Texas, California, Oregon and
Washington.”
C:
Cattle Cycle:
Seeing Texas market and prices booming and California/Oregon/Washington money moving out; it made me think of the two ends of the Cattle Cycle. I want you to understand you can “Tell the Future”.
The cattle cycle is one of the true golden investment cycles of all
time. You can actually read the future. It has held true since the
1800’s except for a miss in the 2000 era.
Doesn’t matter where you start in the cattle cycle, it just loops
around. The following cycle is based on an increase or decrease of
just 5% of the national Cow herd (breeders).
- Price is going up, start feeding more heifers to butcher. Herd at
95%.
- Prices continue to go up, then start pulling out heifers to breed. Herd at 100%
- Takes the heifer to get to two years to reach breeding age. Then 9 months to calve. Then the calve takes 18 months to slaughter. Total cycle takes about 4 years.
- Price then goes down. After everyone has decided to breed heifers, then there are to many cows. Herd at 105%.
- Price continues to decrease. Young steers and heifers still in the pipeline, driving down prices. Start selling off old cows. These extra cows butchered, make the prices go further down. Herd at 100%
- Price continues to decrease. Start selling off younger cows. Selling off younger cows, heifers and bulls, makes the market go down further. Herd at 95%
-Cycle then starts over.
““Build” Self Storage in Texas, California, Oregon and
Washington.”
D:
So what is the point of me telling you the cattle cycle?
Self Storage runs in a cycle. If the economy is going up or if it is going down, Self storage is great. Actually a stagnant economy is the worst time for a Storage business.
Texas is going up.
California/Oregon/Washington are going down.
These are prolonged trends, which makes it a great time to “develop”
Self Storage in those states.
The
reason I am stressing for you to build, is you get a greater return
when you are a “Developer” and you are not paying a premium in a
hot market. Part of the reason is you are taking on a greater risk.
In the Self Storage business, as a Developer, you are taking on the
risk of “will
they come?”.
With these trends, you are able to “See into
the future”.
Keep in mind Self Storage is still a “LOCAL”
business, within a 1 to 3 mile radius, no matter what the trends are.
E:
So which states should you build in?
Texas- is
on the positive upswing (in the middle of an Oil Bust, see the Cattle
Cycle story above), although downswings are just as profitable for
Self Storage.
- No personal income tax, but high property taxes.
- Texas banks are running with 40% LTV. So you need to bring money/collateral to the table versus 25% LTV. Unless you do SBA 10%.
- So I have been saying BE CAREFUL in Texas. In the Counties there is “NO ZONING”. See the old guy in the old pickup, he’s worth $50million (oil). His Accountant just told him he needs more write offs. Normally “NO ZONING” sounds great. But from a Risk management standpoint, every neighbor along the road could do Self Storage. You have to evaluate and protect against that happening.
California/Oregon/Washington-
are on the down swing. Don’t worry, sunshine, ocean and mountains
will always draw people. Don’t worry, its a loop (Cattle cycle).
- high taxes
- here is the kicker, which is true for all states. The major risk to Self Storage owners from a Government is “Self Employment” taxes. As these states continue to come under financial stress they will look for more Taxing authority. If your going to build there, factor that into your equation.
““Build” Self Storage in Texas, California, Oregon and
Washington.”
Use another post or forum for Politics.
Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early.
Post: I want my mom to gift her house to me, so I could leverage it?

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
a. What is the "basis" she has in the house?
b. How much of a gain (cash) does she have if valued at $450k less the loan?
c. Google who pays the tax if gifted to you and how much? Want you to do the work answering this.
d. Google what is the basis if you get the property after your mother passes away? Says she is close to retiring, so I would think she would live for another 30 years. Want you to do the work answering this.
e. If she is near retirement, find out why she took out a second refi (lower interest rate, or took money out?). Also she should not go into retirement with $150k debt, or cosigning for you on $150k debt, if you bought the house. Something is wrong. Help your mother figure out her problem. She probably needs to sell the house and downsize.
f. Help your mother do a 1031 into a more suitable house. Good RE experience.
g. Back to you. With $30k and no job. I wouldn't put the effort into getting a finance loan, until your employed again. With the $30k, I would work on Trailers or Mobile Home investing. Lower dollar figure and you will probably not need to take out a loan.
h. If your mother downsizes, then you should house hack into a Multi Family.
i. RE learning. Just doing one Trailer rental will be an education, that you will be able to use on your future investments.
Post: Cost Segregation depreciation

- Developer
- Posts 4,151
- Votes 4,127
Might look at my post in the Commercial section about 10 days ago on Cost Seg.