
Self Storage Income
The authority on creating wealth and income through self storage.
Find our video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoaCszL7eN9T7EixaJgL49WTLsT-CWLD1
Latest episodes

Sep 9, 2020 • 31min
Grow, Scale, and Compound Your Self Storage Portfolio - Our Franchise System
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income Podcast, I’m your host AJ Osborne.
As you know, here at Self Storage Income, we’re all about scale and going big. After all, we get one shot at this and we want to make the most of it. That’s why today, we wanted to talk about our franchise system.
In today’s episode we walk through and lay out the key aspects of our very own franchise system that allows us to continue to rapidly and steadily grow our storage portfolio. No, our facilities aren’t franchises, but we do however operate them as such.
As you grow, you’ll find yourself doing the same tasks over and over and over again. Like I always say, you have three options: hire for it, automate it, or get rid of it. That’s exactly what we’ve done with our own facilities. You’ll also find as you grow that efficiency is key to your ability to grow and not become overwhelmed. We have to ensure that our efforts today drives progress tomorrow and to do that, we have to build out systems.
Your system needs to be a repeatable process that is compoundable. Essentially, you want to plug and play. You don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel each time you encounter the same issues.
We cover all of this in today’s episode and again, cover our very own franchise system to give you an idea of exactly how we’re hiring, automating, or getting rid of aspects of our storage business.
Thanks for listening everybody,
AJ
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by:
Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/
Store Local - https://www.selfstorage.coop/aws/SL/pt/sp/home_page

Sep 8, 2020 • 1h 8min
The Forefront and Evolution of the Self Storage Industry with Lance Watkins
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income podcast. This is your host AJ Osborne.
If you’ve been in or researched the storage industry for long you may recognize our guest in today’s episode. We have my good friend, and the one and only Lance Watkins on the podcast today and I couldn’t be more excited to share this episode with you.
Lance has been in the industry since the 1990’s and is at the forefront of the evolution of the self storage industry. Like every other asset class, storage is changing and it's crucial that we’re in front of that change. Lance talks about what he’s seen in the past, what he sees for the future, and what he’s done by leveraging technology to take control of not only his own storage investments, but the self storage industry as a whole.
We also dive into a topic that no one else is talking about in real estate - that topic is market share. No, we’re not talking about market share of the physical real estate or physical real estate market. We’re talking about the market share of online real estate. As we know, other asset classes have been destroyed by not taking advantage of and owning large portions of online market share. Lance shares his plans and what he’s been doing to dominate the online market share for the self storage industry.
This is just the tip of the iceberg guys and this is absolutely one of these episodes you’ll want to listen to more than once. And be sure to bust that notebook out and absorb everything you can from this incredible episode.
Thanks for listening everybody,
AJ
See the incredible work Lance is doing at tenantinc.com
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by:
Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/
Store Local - https://www.selfstorage.coop/aws/SL/pt/sp/home_page

Sep 1, 2020 • 27min
How to Find and Close Deals Consistently by Being the Bear
Welcome back everyone to the Self Storage Income podcast.
Through talking to, meeting, and interacting with you guys - one of the biggest and most frequent questions by far that I get from all of you is - “How do I find and close storage deals? And how do I do it consistently?”
Obviously, this is a great question to be asking and I’m super excited to share my process with you that is going to help build an infrastructure for you that will create real and consistent deal flow.
We’ll go over my simple three step process - step by step that will help you take action and start finding, evaluating, and closing storage deals. This an episode you should listen to more than once and an episode you should absolutely take notes on. Reason being, the strategies and the steps outlined in today’s episode are the exact same steps and strategies we’ve used to grow our storage portfolio of over 1 million square feet of storage.
Thanks a ton for listening as always everybody. Keep in touch and we’ll see you next time,
AJ
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by:
Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/
Store Local - https://www.selfstorage.coop/aws/SL/pt/sp/home_page

Aug 25, 2020 • 39min
Our Latest Kansas City Deal - Re-cap and Update
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income podcast, this is your host AJ Osborne.
I just got back from a trip to Kansas City where we’re working on closing our latest acquisition and I have to tell you… I haven’t been this excited about a purchase in a long time and today I’m going to tell you exactly why.
This facility is the exact type of facility that we look for and has every piece of criteria that tells us this is a great deal:
- We have high demand in the market
- The facility is poorly ran/managed
- The facility rates are lower than current market rates
- Very little revenue management
- Very little online presence
- No ancillary streams of income
- Off market deal
- The list goes on and on
If you’ve listened to this podcast for any period of time you know that these factors immediately signal that there could be very real and massive value left on the table to extract. The only thing now is to move and execute. To do this, we need to have our plan and our team in place. As a bonus, we also dive into this aspect as well and provide some incredible insights into what you need to be doing to build your team and resources as you move to acquire your new facility.
As always guys, take notes, soak all of this up, and start using it to help you secure more awesome storage deals and to continue expanding your storage empire.
Thanks for listening everybody,
AJ

Aug 24, 2020 • 29min
How to Invest in Out of State Storage Deals
Welcome back everybody, this is your host AJ Osborne.
So you might be aware… we receive a ton of questions from you guys about self storage and how to begin investing in self storage… and we absolutely love it. We love getting this feedback from you all and addressing any questions you might have about self storage, because like most times, if you have a question about something, a lot of other people probably have the same or a similar question. This is exactly where today’s episode topic comes from - you guys.
Today, we’re going to talk about how to invest in storage out of state.
There are a lot of us that live in markets that are far from ideal and that don’t meet our investment criteria. That said, we end up having to look at markets outside of our own back yards. Thankfully for storage, once you’ve figured out how to identify a good deal in a good market, it doesn’t matter where that deal is located, it’s still a good deal!
The only real hurdle is knowing how and having a plan to manage a facility that is not located in your same city or state. We’ll get into all this today and explain how to go about investing in storage out state.
As always, thanks for listening and we’ll catch you next time,
AJ
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
• iTunes
• Spotify
• Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by:
Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/
Store Local - https://www.selfstorage.coop/aws/SL/pt/sp/home_page

Aug 24, 2020 • 26min
Current Deals We’re Looking At – Storage Conversions and What Exactly We Look For
Welcome back everyone to the Self Storage Income podcast. This is AJ Osborne your host and fellow self storage addict.
Today I wanted to share with you some of the current deals we’re looking at. Specifically, I wanted to talk about conversions. Conversions seem to be all the hype lately and for good reason.
First off, when we say “conversions”, we mean taking what used to be a big box store (that is now sitting vacant) and turning into a self storage facility. We’ve done this before and it was a huge success, but not just because we did it, but because we did it right.
Like anything else, as long as we get the job done right, there’s massive potential. However, if we get it wrong, there’s massive negative consequences.
Today I break down exactly what we look for and consider when we’re looking at a potential conversion project. I share the two things that make a conversion project worth it. I also break down our three step process of evaluating a conversion - will the city accept the facility, what will it cost to convert, and what can you charge tenants.
Bonus - be sure you have a good idea of what your additional square footage supply on the market could do to the supply and the rates you can charge.
Take notes, deploy this information, and start looking at conversion projects as an investment option for your first or your next self storage deal.
Thanks for listening everybody,
AJ
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
• iTunes
• Spotify
• Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by:
Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/
Store Local - https://www.selfstorage.coop/aws/SL/pt/sp/home_page

Aug 24, 2020 • 31min
Identifying Good Deals in Great Markets - The Art and Science
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income podcast. This is your host AJ Osborne.
I don’t know how many calls, messages, and emails I have received from you all and replied to that had to do with this very topic. This alone makes me proud, as this is obviously one of the biggest key factors to help ensure your storage investment success.
First and foremost, there is no one size fits all generalization of a market or what makes a good deal. Each deal, each market needs to be analyzed on a case by case basis and compared to your investment criteria. There is an art and a science to finding good storage deals in great markets and that art and science is exactly what we’re going to dive into today.
We’ll go over the first thing that I look for in markets to identify a good market, the macroeconomic factors affecting the self storage industry and what you can do to position yourself, a surefire sign of when to completely avoid a market, and more.
We also share our three pillars of deal flow that have allowed us to get four facilities under contract this year so far with more on the horizon.
Thanks for tuning in everybody, we’ll see you next time.
AJ
Pick up a copy of my book An Investor’s Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage here: https://selfstorageincome.com/book/
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
• iTunes
• Spotify
• Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/

Aug 24, 2020 • 35min
An Intro to the Self Storage Industry - The Good the Bad and the Opportunity
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income podcast! Thanks so much for tuning in and for all of your incredible support. The podcast is growing, our book is doing amazing, and all the feedback we continue to receive has been outstanding. That said - let’s get to it!
Today I wanted to give you all an in depth introduction to the self storage industry. Whether we’re just starting out or we’re veteran storage investors, keeping our hands on the pulse of the storage industry is key to our continued success.
Throughout today’s episode we’re going to cover a variety of subjects that will give you some good insight into the storage industry and where not only the pitfalls may be, but where the massive opportunities can be. From the total number of storage facilities in the US and their combined rentable space, to the primary reason storage exists, to storage performance year over year and even through specific seasons, we get into a lot here today. As usual, I’m excited to share it with you all to help give you the information you need to make informed decisions.
Enjoy guys and we’ll see you next time!
AJ
Pick up a copy of my book An Investor’s Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage here: https://selfstorageincome.com/book/
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
• iTunes
• Spotify
• Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/
Sparefoot - https://www.sparefoot.com/

Aug 3, 2020 • 31min
COVID 19 and How It’s Affecting Self Storage
What’s going on everybody!? AJ here with another episode of your favorite self storage podcast - Self Storage Income.
Today I wanted to dive into what we’re seeing and experiencing in the self storage industry with the looming COVID 19 pandemic overhead. We’ve had a lot of you sending in questions wondering how this virus has affected our operations, our returns, and our expectations of self storage performance in the future.
I share some in depth insights into what we’re seeing currently at our numerous storage facilities across the US. One reminder however - every city, county, state, etc has been approaching COVID 19 differently and as to be expected, their guidelines have also been different. Being such a dynamic event, it’s been quite the undertaking for business owners and investors to keep up with the rapid changes going on in each respective area.
We go over how we’ve been approaching rate increases, our strategy moving forward to realize the best returns possible with the large amounts of risk now at play. I also share how we’re looking at each individual facility and market we’re in to help further analyze how we can implement planned rate increases.
If I could leave you with anything here - don’t get caught up in all the doom and gloom. These past several weeks we’ve had more good deals come across our table than the entire year prior. Remember, good deals are always good deals and bad deals are always bad deals. Find the good deals, execute, and crush your self storage goals.
Thanks for listening everybody!
AJ
Pick up a copy of my book An Investor’s Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage here: https://selfstorageincome.com/book/
Be sure to go to Selfstorageincome.com to get your free copy of my Self Storage Playbook. This step by step playbook walks you through from start to finish - how to identify a self storage market, how to perform due diligence, how contact a current owner, and ultimately how to land a storage facility deal.
You can also find the Self Storage Income Podcast on:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
The Self Storage Income Podcast is Sponsored by Janus International - https://www.janusintl.com/

Jul 23, 2020 • 47min
Wealth Building Fundamentals and How I Applied Them to Self Storage
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Self Storage Income podcast!
Real quick before we dive in, thank you all for your awesome support of this podcast, my book, our website, and all these awesome things we have going on. The emails I’ve received, the comments, the incredible reviews of my book and the podcast… the list could go on and on. That said, I just wanted to take a moment to send all of you a huge thank you! You all are the best!
Today’s episode is going to be a little different. We love heavily centering the podcast around providing tactical information. We wanted to break that up just a bit today and talk some fundamentals. Reason being, no matter how tactical we get, if we don’t have the fundamentals down, we won’t be able to use those tactical strategies and tools effectively.
We start off by going over a process that you can utilize that will help you figure out what exactly it is that you truly want. This is a huge question and one so many of us have gotten wrong. I also share the strategy or process that I used to help me figure out just what wealth building tools I needed to implement in my investing. We also jump into some discussion about progress and what that really means. Additionally, I walk you through the wealth building tools and strategies that I’ve used in self storage to rapidly grow my company, my wealth, and my ability to do it over and over again to generate massive returns.
Thanks for tuning in and thank you all again for your incredible support,
AJ
Pick up a copy of my book An Investor’s Guide to Growing Wealth in Self
Storage here: https://selfstorageincome.com/book/