I want to be honest with you about your question. The one thing between me and my first offer is the calls themselves. I'm outside the US, so calling sellers isn't free for me — I'd need a calling service with a US number, and that's $20-30 a month. Right now everything I earn goes to supporting my family, so I can't take that on yet, and I don't want to promise you calls I'm not able to make. What I can do in the meantime, I'm doing: start the free Classroom videos, learn how to land on a number properly, and get my Wayne County code-violation list ready — so when I can cover the calling cost, I'm not starting from zero, I can start calling in week one. If you were in my position for this phase, is there anything else you'd focus on while the calls have to wait?

@Ty Flip Man Code violations. I already have a sample ready, Detroit blight tickets from the city open data, latest through Oct 30. I want to bring one live like you said. I am currently busy working for my boss on the lead side, so I need to plan around that. Which specific days are the live calls on, so I can pick one that fits and ask for a guest seat for that night? It lands at 6am my time.

Welcome Scott! Self-storage is an interesting lane — most people here are chasing houses, so I'm curious about this one. Makes sense you're targeting the Southeast (FL, GA, NC, SC) even though you're based in SoCal. Are you mainly looking at smaller mom-and-pop facilities, where the owner might be ready to retire or sell, rather than the big branded ones? I'm still learning myself - mostly on the lead/list side so far. How are you planning to find those facility owners, direct outreach to them?

@Scott Miller Thanks for the detailed answer, Scott — appreciate you breaking it down. That gap makes a lot of sense: the big players focus on large facilities in major markets, so the smaller, individually owned places outside the cities are exactly where a wholesaler can actually add value. I like the curiosity approach too. Asking how they got into it and how long they've owned it doesn't sound like a sales pitch, it sounds like a real conversation - owners are way more likely to actually talk. Quick honesty on your question - my own business isn't rolling yet, I'm still in the learning phase and mostly on the lead/list side so far. That's why I'm studying approaches like yours. Which of the Southeast states are you starting with first - and have you built your first list of facilities to call yet?