Self Storage Income

Self storage has been a “goldilocks” asset for the last 15 years, but it’s a little harder to find opportunity today. If you’re willing to get your hands dirty, though, you can create massive value with self storage conversion projects, and just one or two of these deals could make you VERY wealthy!

Today, we’re chatting with Chris Genard and Ronald Fremin—college friends turned self storage investors and co-founders of Safe Space Companies. By combining Chris’ acquisitions expertise and Ronald’s construction background, the duo has built a portfolio of 12 self storage facilities, nine of which were converted from old buildings—including bowling alleys, hospitals, and big box retail stores. In this episode, you’ll learn how buying these properties at a deep discount and repurposing them for storage can be a highly profitable strategy! 

If you stick around, Chris and Ronald will show you the pros and cons of ground-up construction and conversions, how to find and analyze conversion deals, and the secrets to maximizing your square footage and increasing revenue. Whether you’re looking to buy your first facility, develop new facilities, or convert old buildings into storage, there’s something in this episode for you!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

• How Chris and Ronald built their self storage empire from scratch
• Turning a huge profit by converting old buildings into self storage facilities
• Creative ways to maximize your facility’s square footage (and revenue!)
• How to find and analyze potential self storage conversion deals
• The pros and cons of ground-up construction and converted facilities

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Safe Space Companies - https://www.safespacecompanies.com 

📌 Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/

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📉 Take advantage of our current self storage deals HERE: https://cedar.cc/invest 

Self storage is a seasonal business, so if you’re not capitalizing on the busy and slow seasons, you risk your entire year of revenue. Why do we raise rates in the winter, strategically encourage tenant turnover before spring, and constantly obsess over occupancy by unit size? Today, we’re bringing on Jesse Harmon, Cedar Creek’s Director of Revenue Optimization, to reveal our proven game plan for self storage seasonality. This WILL make or break your facility, so get this RIGHT!

We’re about to enter (if not already in) the “busy” season of self storage. People are moving, spring homebuying is picking up, and you BETTER have units ready to lease at your facility—at the highest price possible. Have units below market rates that need to reach street-level pricing? Jesse shares the data to look at before putting in a rent raise and how to “test” higher rents so you can keep the most high-paying customers.

Next, we’re talking about leads: how to get them at a low cost—or even for free—and which marketing services we use most to fill our pipeline with self storage renters. Plus, before paying a service six months’ rent to get a customer, calculate this CRUCIAL metric to see precisely how much you should pay per lead. 

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

• Self-storage seasonality and how we optimize for busy and slow seasons 
• “Testing” new rental rates and the one metric that is a sign you can raise rents higher
• Why you WANT move-outs (especially in one season) to maximize your facility’s revenue 
• The metrics you should be looking at every day to guide what moves to make at your facility
• Marketing tactics we use to get more leads and customers while keeping costs low

Helpful Related Articles:

Calculating For Marketing: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/blog/market-dynamics-key-metrics-and-Insights-for-smart-investments 

How To Increase Revenue:  https://www.selfstorageincome.com/blog/how-to-increase-revenue-in-self-storage-investing

Why Occupancy Doesn't Matter The Way You Think it Does: 

https://www.selfstorageincome.com/blog/why-occupancy-doesn-t-matter-in-self-storage 

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Resources Mentioned:

📉 NowMetrics: https://nowmetrics.co/

📌 Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/

🎙️ Apply to be a Guest On Self Storage Income HERE: https://form.asana.com/?k=TGU88eU0bFTFW1iHcckuTA&d=1203571084143207

Self storage is much more than a piece of real estate, and if you’re not “in the business of storage,” your investment is doomed to fail. Today, AJ and Conner will give you the blueprint for running not just a functional self storage facility but a profitable self storage business you can scale!

Your customers might see a large metal box, but there is much more going on behind the scenes of your self storage business—including people, operations, systems, and processes—that will make or break your success. In this episode, AJ winds back the clock and shares why he got into self storage investing in the first place, the four “pillars” he used to build his business, and the secrets that allowed him to scale a company that is now worth several hundred million dollars!

Along the way, you’ll learn why you need to prioritize talent—even if it means taking a temporary cash flow hit—and how to transition from “wearing many hats” to creating specialized roles and departments in your business. You’ll also learn the dos and don’ts of people management and why you can’t afford to stop learning, even as you delegate responsibilities!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

• How to build and run a profitable self storage business in 2025
• The four-bucket strategy AJ used to build his own company
• The number one mistake that causes new self storage owners to fail
• Common operational expenses that many investors don’t account for
• How to effectively manage the people within your self storage business
• The one thing you can’t afford to do when hiring a new employee

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Enter our survey for a chance to win a signed copy of AJ’s NEW Book - https://form.asana.com/?k=da0pR8v74pC8OEgx9dgKRQ&d=1203571084143207 

Sign up for the Self Storage Income newsletter - https://www.selfstorageincome.com/newsletter/ 

Trump’s tariffs are back, and they could send shockwaves through the self storage industry. With new tariffs on building materials, development costs are rising, demand is shifting, and investors need to prepare. Whether you’re a self storage owner, developer, or investor, these US tariffs could impact everything from occupancy to rental rates and long-term supply and demand.

At the time of this recording, Trump’s tariff policies remain in place, affecting trade with Mexico, Canada, and China. With uncertainty surrounding US tariff negotiations, how will these changes reshape the self storage industry? Will new restrictions drive rents up, slow development, or create unexpected opportunities?

We’re explaining the first, second, and third-order consequences of these tariffs, breaking down how they affect self storage investors at every level—from REITs to mom-and-pop operators. Plus, what lessons can we learn from previous tariffs and economic cycles, and how should you adjust your self storage investing strategy moving forward?

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

• How Trump’s tariffs could impact self storage development costs
• Why higher steel prices could slow new facilities and reduce supply
• How shifting trade relationships with Mexico, Canada, and China affect self storage industry players
• What happened in 2018’s US tariff cycle and what it means for today
• Whether storage rental demand will rise as new development projects stall (good news for owners?) 
• Why you MUST update your underwriting/analysis for these new tariffs 

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Why U.S. Debt is Everyone’s Problem (Including Yours) - https://youtu.be/DFDZwj64EeQ?si=9yppssHb01hhcWUr

Get my FREE self storage starter pack to learn how to analyze, underwrite, and operate your next storage investment: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/start-podcast 

Brady McDonald is not only a fellow self storage investor but also the founder of Barefoot Land Co., a company that specializes in acquiring and entitling land for self storage development. Only a few years ago, Brady owned a large portfolio of rental properties in Canada. But when he realized that “you can’t eat equity” and needed more cash flow, he packed up his young family, moved to the US, and started a business that sources land off-market, entitles it, and then sells it to other developers. He has even developed a couple of his own self storage facilities, too!

In this episode, Brady shares his journey into self storage investing, the major changes he’s noticing throughout the self storage industry, and the steps he takes when analyzing a market for development opportunities. Stay tuned if you want to know where rental rates are headed and where class A storage could take off in 2025!

What you’ll learn in today’s show:

• Crucial metrics to look at when analyzing a self storage market
• Forecasting where storage rental rates are headed in the next 12 months
• The “smaller” markets where class A storage could explode in 2025
• Building a cash-flowing business to offset low-cash-flow investments
• Brady’s journey from residential real estate to self storage investing

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Barefoot Land Co.: https://www.barefootlandco.com

Brady’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brady.mcdonald84

📌 Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/

📑 Our Self-Storage Feasibility Studies will help you speed up the process in understanding markets, potential risks, and analyzing the facility itself.  https://cedar.cc/feasibility-studies/ 

🎙️ Do you have a great story to share on the Self Storage Income or AJ Osborne podcasts? You can now apply here! 

https://form.asana.com/?k=TGU88eU0bFTFW1iHcckuTA&d=1203571084143207 

📖 Get AJ's book that teaches you everything he knows about self-storage https://a.co/d/aRSKcSq 

📉 Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us: 

https://cedar.cc/invest