I'm looking at a facility where the owner lives next door. He has an older 3 bedroom and 2 bath house next door which also serves as his office. In fact, the front room is setup as an office for people to walk in and sit down. He has a built-in counter and desk on one half of the office/room. Per tax records, the facility and the house are 2 separate parcels. The facility is own by his LLC and the house/office is owned in his name. His plan is to move out of state after the sale, so he does not want to hold onto the house. He wants to sell the facility and the house as a packaged deal. How would you approach this? I should think of this as 2 separate transactions, right? I was thinking of giving him an offer without the house (my preferred) and also an offer with the house (his preferred). Not sure if he will go for that. If I have to take the house, I don't want to become a landlord. I would have to fix that room with the desk/counter in the middle of it and possibly some small renovation like flooring and paint before I can sell it as a house. The market for selling houses is not great right now so that's a concern. Second option is to rent or sell it as an office. It is on a main road so maybe someone might want to buy or rent it as a work office. The house sits between the storage facility and another business on that main road so it's isolated from other residential homes. Let me know if there are other options I'm missing. Also, let me know if there are some gotchas that I need to be aware of in this scenario or during the underwriting.

Looking for some feedback from the group on self-storage facilities with a mixed-use component. How do you typically view a storage facility that includes office/retail units as part of the property? Do you: - Underwrite the office/retail separately from the storage? - Apply a blended cap rate? - See it as a benefit through diversification or an added risk? I'm evaluating a deal with this setup and would love to hear how operators and investors in the storage space approach these opportunities.

How concerned should I be about a facility that does not have the electronic records that we're used to seeing from management systems? The property is being sold by a broker who has created a nice OM. However, the limited info that they got from the older owner was handwritten on notebook paper. I can tell the owners are an older couple that are not tech savvy. How do you go about verifying income, rent roll, and etc? What pitfalls to lookout for?

Question for self-storage owners/operators: If you acquired a mom-and-pop facility that had: - no website, no Google Business Profile, no security cameras, no automated gate, minimal lighting What order would you prioritize improvements in? Part of me thinks: Create the Google Business Profile first (since it’s free) Build a basic website Implement management software/system Add cameras Add automated gate + improve lighting But I also wonder if putting photos online before adding security features could hurt customer perception and reviews. Curious how experienced operators would approach this operationally and from a marketing/customer trust standpoint. What would be your first move?

Hey everyone, my name is Jeff. I’m excited to be here and ready to learn. I’m currently working on building new income streams and creating more financial freedom in my life. Storage facilities caught my attention because of the long-term potential and scalability, so I decided to dive in and really understand how this business works. Right now, I’m focused on learning the fundamentals—how to find deals, analyze numbers, and eventually acquire my first facility. I’m not afraid to start small, I just want to start smart. Looking forward to connecting with others here, learning from your experiences, and taking consistent action. If you have any advice for someone just getting started, I’m all ears. Let’s grow 🙌