Free resources from Mark Helm
Analyzing Self-Storage Deals
How Mark Helm approaches the numbers on a self-storage opportunity, whether you're buying, expanding or converting: the metrics he pays attention to, the mistakes he has made and seen, and free tools for running your own estimates.
Free tools and training
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Excel worksheet
Cap Rate, ROI & IRR Calculator
Calculate cap rate, cash-on-cash return and IRR side by side from your own numbers. Results are estimates, not a valuation.
Get the worksheet51-page guide
How to Analyze Expansions & Conversions
How Mark thinks through what you could pay for an expansion or conversion and how to estimate the potential cash flows.
Get the guide2-video training
Expansions & Conversions on Video
The same topic in two training videos: one on analyzing an expansion, one on analyzing a conversion.
Watch the videosStart with the basics
Short answers from Mark's Knowledge Base on the terms that come up in every deal.
Expansions & conversions
Mark counts these among his favorite projects, and among the easiest to get wrong on paper.
- Three Mistakes to Avoid When Underwriting an ExpansionRents, lease-up and costs he projects more cautiously today
- The Top 3 Mistakes People Make When Converting Self StorageContingency, exteriors and floor loads on two-story conversions
- A Quick Tip on Getting Creative When Doing an ExpansionGetting creative with the land you already have
- An Easy Solution That Just Might Make an Expansion Deal WorkA simple idea that can change how an expansion pencils out
Metrics & reports
Which numbers Mark looks at, and what they can and can't tell you.
- Cap Rates, ROI, IRR: Which Matters Most in Self-Storage?Episode 472: cap rate, ROI and IRR, and which one he weighs most
- Cash-On-Cash and IRR: What They Really Mean in Self-Storage DealsWhat goes into cash-on-cash and IRR on a real proforma
- How to Analyze a Self-Storage Project With One Single Random Daily CloseWhat a single daily close report can reveal about a facility
- How a Daily Close Report Reveals Self-Storage Facility PotentialReading a daily close to spot a facility's potential
- What Your Profit & Loss Statement Doesn't Tell YouWhy a healthy-looking P&L isn't the whole story
- So Much Self Storage Data: Keep It SimpleCutting through too much data
- Analyze… But Don't Over-AnalyzeWhy Mark tries not to over-analyze a deal
Want to model a full project?
The Storage World Analyzer is Mark's calculation and projection software for buys, builds, expansions and conversions. Projections are estimates based on your own assumptions.
New to self-storage? Start with Mark's free 3-part video series → or browse all of Mark's free tools and education →
General education about the self-storage business, not investment, financial, tax or legal advice. Results from any worksheet or tool are estimates based on your own assumptions. Disclaimer