Mark Helm, Author at Creating Wealth Through Self Storage

Rethinking the Millennial Customer – A Force of Nature for Self-Storage

by Mark Helm | Apr 24, 2026 | Buy Self Storage

In the most recent ISS expo I attended, once again I saw that Millennials have become 20% plus of self-storage customers, up from about 16% a year ago. I remember some of the stereotypes many had a few years ago about the millennial generation: Avocado toast and $7...

Self-Storage Myth Number 2: REITs Outperform Small Self-Storage Owners

by Mark Helm | Apr 17, 2026 | Buy Self Storage

I hear partners, people I coach, and investors ask the question, “How can a smaller independent owner compete today with REITs or a big institutional player today? They have a lot more money and people, and their cost of capital is so low.” Valid question, but the...

The Square Foot per Capita Myth

by Mark Helm | Apr 3, 2026 | Buy Self Storage

It’s time to talk about square foot per capita again. I have run into more and more issues with that metric and think it is time to permanently interrupt the myth that still pervades our industry. That myth is: You can get a clear picture of supply/demand in a trade...

Insurance Shock: How Self-Storage Owners Can Fight Back in 2026

by Mark Helm | Mar 19, 2026 | Buy Self Storage

Let’s look at ways to reduce our insurance cost in 2026 and beyond. This expense line item is doing nothing but rising, and even though we had relatively calmer weather in 2025, excluding the west coast, more frequent and costly events are coming our way. Last week we...

A Big Shout Out To U-Haul

by Mark Helm | Mar 13, 2026 | Buy Self Storage

Finally! U-Haul’s President and CEO Joe Shoen took a stand in opposition of the deplorable pricing practices most of the bigger REITs and institutional players use today, with the absolute worst being Extra Space in my opinion. I am talking about the bait and switch...