Most new storage investors do the same thing. They sign up for LoopNet alerts, refresh Crexi a few times a week, and wait for something to pop up that pencils. Then they wonder why six months go by without making a single offer. The deals on those sites are picked over, overpriced, or already under contract by the time you see them. The better way is to flip the whole approach. Instead of waiting for deals, you go find them before they ever hit the market. I've bought several of my 8 facilities through off-market channels, and the system isn't complicated. It's direct mail to owners in your target markets, cold calls using a real script, driving for dollars in towns within 90 minutes of you, and scraping Google for thousands of facility leads for around $50 on Fiverr. Run all four channels at once and deal flow stops being a problem. The other half of this is brokers. Most people email a broker once, get ignored, and give up. The investors actually closing deals build real relationships so they get the first call before a listing ever goes live. I broke down exactly how I do this here: https://youtu.be/pdQMvZhvSJA — worth 15 minutes if you want brokers bringing you deals instead of the other way around. If you want the full Phase 1 sourcing framework, it's all laid out in the Blueprint: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkUwltCW9wk7LbsoddYwTfTFn5UgMg2x/view?usp=sharing Which channel are you going to commit to this week — mail, calls, driving, scraping, or brokers? Dave "First Call, Not Last Look" DeMink

"The best deals never hit the market." That's something I've believed since buying my first facility, and it's held true across all 9 I own today. The sellers who are ready to move on quietly are the ones who give you room to negotiate price, terms, and timing. The trick is having a system that puts you in front of them before anyone else. Phase 1 inside FIRST FACILITY is all about building that system. We're talking direct mail to owners who've held facilities for 15+ years, cold call scripts I refined over 23 years in sales, driving for dollars on weekend trips, and a Fiverr trick that pulls thousands of storage leads for around 50 bucks. Then we layer in broker relationships so you get the first phone call when something comes across their desk. If you want a taste, this walkthrough on building broker relationships is a good starting point: https://youtu.be/pdQMvZhvSJA If you're stuck wondering where your first deal is going to come from, that's exactly the conversation I want to have with you. Book a clarity call and we'll map out which sourcing channels make sense for your market, your time, and your budget. No pressure, no pitch deck. Just a real look at where you are and what the next step looks like. You can also grab the Blueprint here to see the full path: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkUwltCW9wk7LbsoddYwTfTFn5UgMg2x/view?usp=sharing What's the one sourcing channel you've been curious about but haven't tried yet? Dave "First Call Gets the Deal" DeMink

Hey StorageAce community! 👋 We've been busy, and the knowledge is flowing. Two May Power Hour recordings just dropped — packed with real talk from operators who are in the trenches right now. Whether you're still looking for your first deal or you're already in due diligence, there's something in here for you. May 5th Recording [link] - How to find deals before they ever hit Crexi or LoopNet — including a live demo on turning broker listings into direct relationships that get you on their private deal sheet - Why the asking price is almost never the real price, and how to make offers based on your numbers — not theirs May 12th Recording [link] - What lease-up really looks like in today's market — straight talk from operators who are in it right now, including how one facility made $6K more per month after losing 30 tenants - How to value a vacant or underperforming facility, and the one thing brokers will always oversell you on (hint: it starts with "expansion opportunity") As always, drop your questions and reactions in the comments — this community gets better when you engage. Now go hit play! 🎧

"I just kept showing up." That's what Nick told me after he closed his first self-storage facility. Five months of consistent work. No shortcuts, no magic deal that fell in his lap. Just a clear system and a community around him to keep him moving when most people would have quit. Here's what made the difference for Nick. He didn't rely on one channel. He worked direct mail, made cold calls, and built real relationships with brokers/wholesalers in his target marke. When one channel went quiet, another one kept producing. That's the whole point of a multi-channel system — you stop hoping a deal shows up and start engineering deal flow. The broker/wholesaler relationships were the real unlock for him. Once a few knew he was serious, knew his buy box, and knew he could actually close, he started getting calls before deals ever hit LoopNet. I've bought several of my 8 facilities this same way, and if you want to see exactly how to build those relationships from scratch, watch this one: https://youtu.be/pdQMvZhvSJA If you're earlier in the journey and want the full sourcing-to-close framework Nick used, the Blueprint walks through it step by step: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkUwltCW9wk7LbsoddYwTfTFn5UgMg2x/view?usp=sharing What's the one sourcing channel you're going to commit to this week? Dave "Show Up Daily" DeMink

"I just kept showing up." That's what Nick told me after he closed his first self-storage facility. Five months of consistent work. No shortcuts, no magic deal that fell in his lap. Just a clear system and a community around him to keep him moving when most people would have quit. Here's what made the difference for Nick. He didn't rely on one channel. He worked direct mail, made cold calls, built real relationships with brokers in his target market, and pulled lead lists cheap using the Fiverr Google scraping method. When one channel went quiet, another one kept producing. That's the whole point of a multi-channel system — you stop hoping a deal shows up and start engineering deal flow. The broker relationships were the real unlock for him. Once a few brokers knew he was serious, knew his buy box, and knew he could actually close, he started getting calls before deals ever hit LoopNet. I've bought several of my 8 facilities this same way, and if you want to see exactly how to build those relationships from scratch, watch this one: https://youtu.be/pdQMvZhvSJA If you're earlier in the journey and want the full sourcing-to-close framework Nick used, the Blueprint walks through it step by step: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkUwltCW9wk7LbsoddYwTfTFn5UgMg2x/view?usp=sharing What's the one sourcing channel you're going to commit to this week? Dave "Show Up Daily" DeMink