I think trying to find off-market listings is hard as well today. As a storage owner, I get, on average, 10 texts a week, lots of letters a month, and perhaps one to two calls every week or so about selling my facility. Some inquiries even come for properties I sold...

We all know how AI is changing the self-storage landscape. Others smarter than me have talked about using chatbots for storage answering services, AI in revenue management and tenant data analysis (determining which tenants can pay what rate based on behavior), and...

After over forty years in real estate and the self-storage business, I have learned a few things about business that I am sharing as I hover around this 500-episode mark. I guess we could call these episodes “What I've Learned About Wealth, Business, and Life." This...

As I hover around the 500-episode mark, I am apparently becoming more philosophical and want to share some insights I have gained over the last ten years or so in the storage business. I’ve talked about the five biggest mistakes I have made in my career and the five...

Here I am at Episode 500. On one level, it means nothing, really, but on another, it shows I can stick to something for a long time and/or you can hang in there with me no matter how bad or off I can be at times. I hope you have received some value from these...

As I approach Episode 500, I have been thinking a lot about the self-storage business and my thirty-one years in and around the industry. I was thinking about what I could share that would be helpful. I had two startling insights. The first was that what would be most...

There has never been a moment in self-storage history where the gap between well-chosen vendors and poorly chosen ones mattered more than it does today. We are currently choosing our vendors for a new brand and have discovered one thing… Vendors today can make or...

You have heard of SEO, pay-per-click, Google algorithms and the gambit of online marketing terms. There is a new but vitally critical term you have got to understand today…the new world of GSO. Although you may be tired of hearing about AI and how it applies to your...

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...

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...