With the Coronavirus shutting down the economy, people are looking for ways to diversify their portfolios into something that is more stable than the stock market or other types of real estate. Self-storage is a very secure form of real estate investing. So how do you find self-storage properties? These properties are often held onto because they have such great returns with little time investment. When they come on the market, they can be snatched up quickly, especially if they are well priced.
Create a relationship with a Commercial Realtor
The first way that you can find self-storage properties is to have an agent who is constantly on the lookout for you. Make sure that they are watching the market so that any time anything comes on the market, they will let you know. Check out our blog on how to create a great relationship with an agent.
Research the Internet
However, you can also be proactive about finding properties yourself. Another way to find self-storage is by simply doing a simple internet search for self-storage and your state. Loopnet.com is a common source of commercial properties. There are also several large commercial real estate brokerages with websites that list commercial properties that are currently for sale.
You should check out Forsale.com, selfstorage.com, crexi.com, MJPartners.com, listselfstorage.com, Marcusandmillichap.com, selfstorages.com and Self-storage Brokers of America for self-storage properties. These websites offer self-storage properties that are currently for sale. However, you will notice that not a lot of properties are currently on the market. That is why developing relationships with brokers is so important.
Discussion Forums
Another way to find self-storage is to look at self-storage discussion forums. Often people post their properties on these sites before they market them to the general public. You will also see people who are complaining about how much they hate their units or how bad their returns are. This is a great way to approach them about the possibility of selling their units. They may truly be in a bad market that doesn’t support good returns, or they may not know the tricks to get good returns.
Direct Mail
Finally, it is also critical to set up your own marketing campaign if you really want to start in this business. One way to do this is to get a list of the self-storage properties that are in your area. You can get a list from Info USA. Once you have a list of all the storage units in your area, start a marketing campaign. We have a great campaign in our home study course that gets a 6%-8% return.
Your campaign needs to be consistent. You need to let them know that you are an investor who is interested in purchasing their property either now or sometime in the future. You don’t know if they are motivated today or if they are going to be motivated sometime down the road. The important thing is to make sure that they remember your name the time to sell comes.
No matter how you decide to look for self-storage properties, the important thing is that you set up a system that works for you. There may not be anything on the market today, but circumstances change, and properties come on the market. Make sure that you are ready when they do.
