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The Impact of Inflation on Self Storage Investing

Ben VestalArgus Self Storage Advisors As the U.S. economy continues to recover, many investors are turning their attention to the potential risk of inflation and how it will impact commercial real estate investments. The self storage business model of short term, month-to-month leases and a fixed base expense model is setting self storage owners up to outperform other commercial real estate sectors.  We have learned that the ability to raise or reduce rents quickly allows self storage owners to outperform the market. Regular rent increases on the existing tenant base…

Featured Broker: Brett Hatcher

Brett Hatcher has been with Marcus & Millichap since 2006 and is currently a senior managing director investments. In his time with Marcus & Millichap, Brett has successfully brokered over 627 transactions, totaling over $3.9 billion in real estate. An expert from the ground up to lease up, Brett is up to date in all aspects of self storage investments, including management, operations, market conditions, capital market and economic trends impacting the self storage industry. Brett’s knowledge of the self storage market is unparalleled in the industry and has consistently…

The Perfect Storm for Self Storage: Current Trends Create an Ideal Scenario for Self Storage Sellers

Mike MeleVice ChairmanCushman & Wakefield Last October, Blackstone Group Inc put a $1.2 billion price tag on their self storage market confidence. Their purchase of Simply Self Storage set off the alarms of investors worldwide and threw significant weight behind what insiders already knew: self storage has legs. Together, with Elliott Management and numerous other industry players, investor interest is at an all-time high. In addition to engagement from powerhouse investors, self storage properties are seeing a boost in valuations thanks to increased rates and occupancies. According to data from…

Featured Broker: Mike Mele

Mike Mele, Vice Chairman, leads Cushman & Wakefield’s national Self-Storage Advisory Group, which represents clients ranging from private investors to large-scale REITs in the development, expansion, consolidation, acquisition and disposition of self storage assets. Mr. Mele began his career in self storage investment sales in 1999. He went on to build an industry-leading team, which he brought to Cushman & Wakefield in 2019. Based in Tampa, the 18-member, multi-market team has closed more than 600 self storage transactions totaling more than $6 billion. In 2020 alone, the team closed 41…

Case Study: A Modern Storage Operation

When EXP Realty took over a pen and paper storage operation, they knew there was a better, more modern approach to running a storage facility. They turned to Storable’s platform of powerful technology and found success. The Challenge: Eliminating Busywork and Missed Opportunities After purchasing a couple of storage facilities that were managed using pen and paper, Frazier Robison of EXP Realty became quickly overwhelmed by the volume of tedious tasks necessary to manage day-to-day operations. He and his business partner knew there had to be a better way to…

Featured Broker: Edan Cohen

Edan Cohen is a co-founder at Sector Property Group. In partnership with Linda Cinelli and LC Realty and as an affiliate broker of Argus Self Storage Advisors, Mr. Cohen is responsible for originating and executing the sale of self storage facilities throughout the Northern New Jersey, New York City and Long Island territories. Representing both private and institutional owners and investors in the acquisition and disposition of multifamily, development, office, retail and industrial properties in both on and off-market transactions, Mr. Cohen has successfully closed over $400 million in aggregate…

Featured Broker: Linda Cinelli

Linda Cinelli began in 1989 as a professional real estate broker in commercial real estate and land sales.  Since 1994, she has specialized in investments and the self storage industry.  Her area of expertise includes real estate acquisition, asset disposition, development and institutional representation.  She is a CCIM whose other professional affiliations include CIREI, CBA, IREOBA. She has achieved the designation of CEA, a Certified Exchange Advisor, for those clients performing 1031 exchanges.  Linda is the founder and president of the Northern New Jersey CCIM District, which merged into the…

The Importance of Cloud Access Control

A cloud-based, gate access control system can be connected to a self storage facility’s gates as well as doors to any buildings. The older style of gate access requires a computer to be onsite so it can run a copy of the software locally. With this comes issues that are resolved by cloud access control. The following demonstrates why cloud access is a better option. Automatic Updates Cloud access control facilitates instantaneous changes and allows for automatic updates. For example, you can set your gate up to automatically lock out…

Advantages of Self Storage Franchising Opportunity: Flexibility and Convenience for Everyone

The portable self storage industry offers consumers a storage solution that is convenient to them and it offers investors a flexible franchise opportunity in a growing field with increasing demand. Consumers want items delivered these days. It is evident in the rise of food-delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats and in the fall of brick-and-mortar retail businesses that have struggled to keep up in the age of Amazon doorstep delivery. The portable self storage industry recognizes this change in consumer behavior and has evolved self storage to meet demand.…

Featured Broker: Steve Mellon

Steve Mellon is a managing director in the Houston, TX office of JLL Capital Markets, Americas and is the leader of the firm’s national self storage group. He specializes in acquisitions and dispositions in the self storage asset class and has been involved in $2.0 billion in property sales and structured financing/equity placement. His experience also includes performing valuation and value enhancement consulting assignments to help clients identify and boost their property values.  Additional assignments include unit mix analysis, demographic and market analysis and inspection and lock checks. Prior to…