We closed on our first facility. Thanks to everyone in the Storage Ace community who gave some guidance along the way. I've been in residential real estate for over 30 years and thought it would be somewhat of an easy transition into self storage. That definitely was not the case. Finding the deal was the easy part (for me). But I didn't realize how much I didn't know about self storage and how much is involved after you get the deal under contract. (The following is an unsolicited endorsement). Once I got the facility under contract I joined Dave's coaching group. I decided that I didn't want to waste time trying to figure it out on my own (which I tend to do). Of all the classes, conferences, groups I've joined or spent money on over my real estate career, this by far was the best money I've ever spent. Dave, Ken & the group helped me get to the closing table. Without their assistance I would've been lost trying to put everything in place to get the facility online and start the process of turning it around. As I mentioned before, there is A LOT I didn't know about storage. A lot of details (most of them simple processes) that if you weren't aware of could cost you a ton of time and money. Dave helped with all of that and continues to help as we get this thing rolling. If you're new, serious about getting into self storage, and serious about closing on your First Facility I would highly recommend checking out Dave's coaching class so you can cut to the front of the line and get that first deal. Time to find another one...

Hello all, I am new to the self storage world and looking at a property. Just thinking about putting in an offer has my emotions riding a roller coaster. Looking forward to touring the facility this week.

Hi everyone, My name is Jim Kittridge. I'm an investor out of Charlotte, NC and I'm closing on my first facility in ~1 week and am looking for more opportunities. I'm an easy and very experienced buyer. I've done ~200k sqft of storage entitlements and own ~200k sqft of real estate outside of storage. I built a portfolio of 100+ houses and apartments I've been selling out of and 1031'ing into flex space and industrial but want to grow my self storage portfolio. Look forward to connecting with everyone. Thanks for the invite @Gabriel Petsios! My email is jim@rothcapital.com and I have a list of acquisitions on my site if you're curious.

hey gang I wanted to share a victory with the group: we closed on our first storage deal! It took a couple of months of grinding it out searching for a seller who would sell on [really good] terms but it paid off. here's the deets: about 48ksqft fairly recent construction (less than 5 years old) 50% occupancy!!!!! it's a value add play. I wanted to get into it as cheap as possible, and somehow avoid negative cash flowing (big ask, I know...) we were able to get in it for 40k down and interest only payments for 5 years that lined up with the *current NOI* <---yes you read that right, the CURRENT NOI. so day 1 we break even... on a nearly 50ksqft facility that's only 50% occupied... and we have 5 years before we have to cash the seller out.... for 40k down. it took a lot of grinding but we finally got the first deal in the books. now comes the "figuring out how the heck to run a storage facility" part. then it's back on the phones looking for deals 2 through 100,000+ :o] wish me luck

Site visit revealed some damage (max $3-5k in repairs) to some units and a lower occupancy (approx 20% less) than stated by the seller. I sent an emailing to the broker detailing the unexpected necessary repairs, the lower occupancy observed, along with about 40 pics of the issues. I also sent an addendum reducing the sale price by $20k (10%). Seller agreed to new price, which is $85k (33%) lower than the list price. Currently under contract at $19.44/sqft. Always ask for what you want. Never know what their true motivation might be. The worst they can say is no. (Kinda kicking myself for not asking for more 😂😂😂)