291. Self Storage Seasonality: Moves to Make NOW Before “Busy Season” Hits with Jesse Harmon of Cedar Creek Capital

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/

 

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