

Self Storage Income
AJ Osborne
The authority on creating wealth and income through self storage.
Find our video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoaCszL7eN9T7EixaJgL49WTLsT-CWLD1
Find our video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoaCszL7eN9T7EixaJgL49WTLsT-CWLD1
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 6, 2020 • 41min
How to Structure a Deal (After the Money is Raised) - Behind the Scenes of Our Past and Current Deals
Hey what’s going on everybody!? Welcome back to the Self Storage Income Podcast, this is your host AJ Osborne.
One of the things that’s often talked about throughout the world of real estate investing is the raising of capital for deals. Everybody talks about how to find investors, how to manage investors, how to raise money, and even a bit about how to allocate that money. One of the issues with this is…. No one ever talks about what the actual deals look like AFTER the investors are secured and money is raised.
What does the deal structure look like? Is there a industry standard for percentages of ownership in the deal? Who gets what and how much?
Well that’s exactly what we’re going to cover in today’s episode. We go behind the veil and share with you guys the exact structure of our past and current deals. We go over the different roles that we and our investors take in in the deal, what that means, and the exact percentages shared of those deals. We talk general partners, limited partners, the rough number of investors we generally like to take on, and more.
I’m super excited to share this episode out with you guys because we cover a ton of great topics and help walk you through what a potential deal could like in regard to the deal structure behind the scenes. Enjoy, take notes, and as always, get out there and get after it.
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
Oct 1, 2020 • 35min
The Investors Hack - Step by Step (How to Grow Wealth More Quickly)
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income Podcast, this is your host AJ Osborne.
Today we have an episode for you that outlines the exact process we’ve used to go from owning one storage facility, to now owning and operating storage facilities all across the U.S. with a portfolio worth over $100 Million.
We just recently refinanced several of our facilities. What’s that mean for us? Well for starters, we pulled out capital (completely tax free) to deploy towards the purchases of more storage facilities, we drastically lowered our investment risk, and all the amazing cashflows from all of our facilities will be staying the same as before the refinance.
How? Well that’s exactly what we’re talking about today.
That said, you better get that note book out again and get ready because this is a juicy episode you won’t want to miss a detail of. We talk debt, finance, economics, and the tools you can use that help you grow more wealth more effectively.
Thanks a ton for listening guys, 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
Sep 17, 2020 • 40min
How Secure is Self Storage Investing? The Pros and Cons
Welcome back everybody to the Self Storage Income Podcast, I’m your host AJ Osborne.
If you’ve talk to others about investing in self storage, it’s likely you immediately received the “storage is a cash cow!”, or “storage is recession proof!” comments. While we’re just as about excitable as you can get about self storage and the massive opportunities there are in this industry, we’re not about to forget that things can and do go wrong.
Is storage more secure than other asset classes?
Well, today I wanted to talk about the pros and cons of the self storage investment vehicle. There are some who say that storage is the be all end all investment and you don’t need to invest in anything else - that storage could never fail. This is extremely dangerous thinking.
As you and I know, there truly is and can be an unbelievable amount of upside investing in self storage. Storage in general has performed incredibly well through down turns and recessions - but not all storage facilities and storage owners and operators are created equal. Storage can absolutely fail - this is literally our investment strategy: buy under performing (failing) facilities and turn them around.
To give you a more in depth view of storage, its performance, and both the pros and cons of the asset class, we take a look today at the performance of storage over the past decades and also compare this performance to other asset classes.
Recognizing where storage can fail and planning accordingly to mitigate that risk is a critical aspect to our success as storage investors. They might not be the most fun or exciting conversations, but they’re conversations we have to have with ourselves and our team. So gear up, let’s dive in.
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 15, 2020 • 58min
Taking the Plunge and Buying Your First Storage Facility with Rafa Ortiz
What’s going on everybody!? Welcome back to the Self Storage Income Podcast. This your host AJ Osborne.
We have another incredible guest lined up for you today and if you follow or are a part of the extreme kayaking world, you’ll recognize his name.
Our guest today is Rafa Ortiz. Being a professional kayaker sponsored by some of the biggest names in the extreme sports world such as Redbull and GoPro… self storage is far from his usual. But Rafa has recently discovered the power of not only real estate investing, but in self storage investing. After discovering the potential that self storage can offer, Rafa decided to purchase his first facility.
Today, Rafa shares his experience with his first facility from how he financed it when no banks would give him a loan to the incredible process it takes to get your storage investment train started and moving. We also dive into the journey that is investing and what you should expect as you begin or continue down your investment path.
As always guys, thanks a ton for listening and I know you’re going to love this episode.
AJ
Keep up with Rafa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafaortizkayak/?hl=en
Check out Rafa’s storage facility: Carson Storage Units - https://goo.gl/maps/pQyBJ4NW25EmJKfGA
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 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


