All Forum Posts by: Deanna B.

From my experience investing in storage units: Look at the local market cycle and then consider the risks. Are these units seeing a pattern in occupancy? What is the seasonal pattern going to be affected by? How much competition is there within 2, 5 and 10 miles of the property? Who will manage the facilities? Do you like how they are marketing the facilities and how they are pricing the units? What are the demographics around the property? What is the projected growth for the area? How long do you want to hold the property? These are the basics to consider.

Starting from scratch I would work with syndication groups that are managing the risks for you. It is so much work to do property management - it turns into a full-time headache. I would diversify in different commercial real estate asset types across multiple markets or funds that are diversified within multi-family. They do all of the risk management and you can learn a lot from the companies you invest with as well as grow your network with other investors that would lead to more value in the long run. I would rather have my money work for me so I can sit back and enjoy my success. 

Consider how long the economy in Key West took to recover and then consider how long you would like to hold the property. Tourism is changing with the economy and investments are always a risk so make a very conservative plan for the property and plan for the worst case scenario. The biggest risks are hurricanes and rising sea levels - this is what insurance companies are looking at. Managing the property will be the most difficult part if you are not local. 

I am new to the Austin, TX area and have been looking for more real estate focused networking opportunities. There are very few listed on BiggerPockets and the ones that I have found here are months out. 

What networking groups would you recommend, either local or virtual, are the most valuable? Would love to find some that are meeting often.

Posting reviews online about the experience you are having can get their attention if they aren't responding to calls and emails. Hopefully that will help others know what to look out for while dealing with them and you may discover other people are having the similar experiences. The company will need to respond to your review to prove how they are making an effort and it could impact their business greatly, possibly giving you more leverage. 

Getting a real estate license in the state they live in would be very educational. There are a lot of colleges that offer courses on real estate, but also would recommend they look into the continuing education courses like CCIM. There are a lot of great mentorships you can gain from college experience that will introduce you to the people you would want to know. If the college they want to go to does not offer Real Estate, I would recommend either minoring or majoring in finance, economics or legal studies. I think marketing and psychology are also very helpful. Politics plays a big part of real estate too. Real Estate is always changing and there will always be continued education needed in all areas, college is only a waste if you go for a specific job that you would be stuck in. I would recommend going for something you are actually interested in and would help you for life in general. Internships and clubs are very helpful too, but really it is your network that will get you the furthest in life - especially in real estate.

Do you have a trustworthy team working on preserving your asset in that area? How much experience do they have working in that area? How often will you go there? What is driving people to want to be there?

I look at what the tax rates and incentives are. Also what are the industries contributing to the economy of that state. How they performed in previous economical downturns. What is the future projections of growth including demographics and businesses. What the education landscape looks like and the future plans for schools in the area.

I was a real estate (foreclosure) paralegal in Fort Myers, FL during the 2008 recession. The area didn't recover for a very long time, they are just recently getting back to those 2007 numbers. I bought a house at the bottom of the market in 2010 at $62k, originally built in 2007 for $285k. It is a 4 bedroom, with an office, and 2 bathrooms - 1800/sq. ft. house.

I would really consider the driving factors for what is keeping the economy afloat there. It was mostly construction and tourism, but that may have changed now that more jobs are remote. I personally wouldn't invest in that market at that price because of the experience I lived there. It is fast growing compared to previous years. Also consider the type of renters in the market, it was horrible when I was in property management there. Interview a few property managers to ask the hard questions.

In addition to the previous responses, I would recommend you consider investing in places you are familiar with so you are more comfortable and can see the progress in person if possible. Ask questions about tax benefits if there are any and how often you will receive updates on how the project is going. When you are communicating with the investment group make a point to ask how quickly they expect to send out the K-1 for tax time, often times it is out of control of the operator and can cause you to file your taxes later. Try to meet with the operator in person to ask these questions so you can see the non-verbal responses to your questions. If they need time to get back to you about simple questions that might be a red flag.