Key Benefits of Investing with Professionals
I often hear from new investors questioning the benefits of investing with us compared to purchasing properties on their own. Many of our investors are highly skilled professionals or entrepreneurs accustomed to control, which makes it challenging for them to delegate investment decisions. Although many could successfully invest independently, partnering with a sponsor offers significant advantages, evidenced by the fact that nearly 90% of our investors choose to reinvest with us. Here are several key considerations:
1. This is all we do: Our core focus is self-storage. Each day, my team and I are fully immersed in the market—analyzing deals, engaging with brokers, collaborating with lenders, and participating in conferences and webinars. We meticulously underwrite hundreds of deals annually but selectively invest in only a few.
2. Yes, we charge fees to our investors: These fees are essential for covering the operational costs associated with having a dedicated team manage your investments efficiently. We have chosen a structure we believe aligns investor and sponsor incentives and we always present all fees clearly upfront. Our typical fee structure is 100 bps for acquisition and disposition fees, 150 bps of equity raised for asset management and a 65/35% carry over an 8% return. We have lower fees upfront and during the life of the investment and higher carry on the back end after investors have made money.
3. Relationships and Data-Driven Acquisitions Process: Our process is data driven from start to finish. We identify our target markets, looking at macroeconomic factors such as job growth, population migration, ease of getting entitlements, historical rates and occupancy for self-storage, and storage per capita among the many considerations. We then map out every facility in these target markets and systematically target mismanaged properties (mom and pop operated, below market rents, deferred capital expenditures, etc.). The proprietary database and relationships with these local operators in our target market is invaluable for feeding our acquisitions pipeline. We also have a deep network of broker relationships that allow us to get a first and/or last look at pocket listings and openly marketed deals. Our consistent historical track record of execution and performance allows us to win deals even when we are not the highest bidder on price.
4. Reduced Stress: Managing rental properties independently often involves unexpected hassles, such as urgent midnight calls about lockouts or emergency plumbing issues on Sundays. When you invest with a sponsor, these disturbances are their responsibility. As a passive investor, your involvement is limited to initial formalities—simply signing the paperwork and providing the funds. From there, our experienced team handles all aspects of property management.
We are always happy to discuss these points in more detail. Feel free to reach out directly if you would like to chat further or hear about what’s currently in our acquisitions pipeline.
