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

Dave has the 5-minute deal analyzer, so I do use that to filter out deals. However, I'm finding myself looking at the market before I even get to that. I would jump on TractIQ and see what the market looks like (medium HHI, supply ratio, population trend, and homeowners vs renters). I figured that if I don't like the market then I don't want a facility there. Do you think I'm missing out on potential good deals by looking at the market first? Sometimes I do still do the 5-minute analyzer. Just wondering if I should really be doing the 5-minute analyzer first always instead of jumping to look at the market first.

Quick question for those who have wholesaled/self-storage assigned deals before: Have any of you used NDAs with buyers when wholesaling a facility? Or do you not really recommend it? I’m trying to figure out best practices here and whether it’s something I should be implementing or if it creates more friction than value. If anyone has a sample NDA they’ve used before, I’d really appreciate it if you’d be willing to share. Thanks!

Curious to get some input from the gang here .. we're under contract on a facility and there is another site about 3 miles away with pretty much the same name as we use. Technically we're Sunshine Self Storage and they're Sunshine Storages and their website shows they sell portable buildings, metal buildings (RV parking/cover), and appliances of all things. If someone looks closely they'll be able to tell we're different but this other company will still show up in a storage search and may be confused with us. The LLC is named differently so we won't have a conflict there. Would you move forward with your own brand in this situation or go for a slightly different version to avoid the confusion? Look forward to hearing from y'all!