Here is the Secret (Part 1)
By Marc Goodin
From experience, I can tell you there is a much better way to get your foot in the door with self-storage owners.
The standard playbook is broken. Most buyers ask owners to dig up endless data, make them wait two to three weeks, and then deliver a low-ball offer, all after claiming they pay more than anyone else. This is precisely why owners immediately say they aren’t looking to sell. If you want meaningful engagement and real results, it’s time to change your approach.
3 Reasons Why 2026 is the Perfect Time to Buy
- The Turnaround: The recent downward trend in rental rates and occupancy has finally turned the corner and is heading upward.
- Realistic Expectations: Enough time has passed since the peak COVID-19 upswing that real sellers understand the days of selling at inflated, speculative future rental rates are over. Savvy buyers pay for the existing Net Operating Income (NOI), not the unrealistic projections pushed by brokers.
- The Interest Rate Play: Price is directly tied to interest rates. It is far better to invest now before interest rates drop and asset values shoot back up significantly.
The Perfect Storm for self-storage acquisitions is here: The average age of independent (non-REIT) self-storage owners is 65. Many are locked into 4% interest rates that will require refinancing soon at much higher rates. This combination of aging ownership and tightening math will significantly increase the number of owners who say “yes” when you contact them.
Your Competitive Advantage: Speed
The secret is that you can give an owner a purchase price on your very first call or just a few minutes later using only one piece of information: the total gross income over the last 12 months. If they don’t have that exact number on hand, you can use their last calendar year or a few recent monthly statements to estimate the annual total.
The Script
The call starts like this:
You: “Hello, Mr. Owner, I am Marc Goodin. I am looking to buy a self-storage facility in the area, and your facility appears to be exactly what I am looking for. If you’re interested, I can give you a price right now if you can provide me with just one piece of information.”
Stop talking. Let them ask what information you need. Then respond:
You: “The facility’s gross income for the last 12 months.”
Doing the Math
At Storage Authority, we use our Purchase Guidance Calculator to do the heavy lifting. You simply enter the gross income provided by the owner, choose your estimated expenses as a percentage of that income, and plug in the cap rate you are willing to pay.
Using the calculator example above, if an owner provides a gross income of $200,000, and we assume an expense ratio of 40% and a 9% cap rate, the calculator indicates an initial offer of $1,300,000.
The goal here isn’t necessarily to lock in the final purchase at this exact price, it is to get your foot in the door. In some cases, the calculator might spit out a value where your available down payment isn’t sufficient. If that happens, you can choose to dig deeper for creative financing or simply pass.
Preparation Makes the Pitch Seamless
Before making the call, do some preliminary research on a data platform like Radius+. Check five key metrics:
- Estimated facility size
- Age of the facility
- Current market rental rates
- Competitor performance
- Local self-storage demand
If the facility is local, do a quick drive-by to assess the physical quality and location. This baseline research gives you the confidence to accurately select your target cap rate and expense percentage before they give you the income number.
Overcoming the Knee-Jerk “No”
When you deliver the numbers, the owner will likely say it sounds too low, that they need to think about it, or give you a flat-out “no.”
Your immediate response should be:
“What do you need to think about?”
Or
“There are four options where I can actually offer you more money. Would you like to hear them?”
1.Adjust Assumptions:
If the gross income is higher than stated, or if my assumptions about repairs and expenses are too conservative, I can increase the offer.
2.Full Seller Financing:
If you are open to providing seller financing for the acquisition, I can increase the offer price.
3.Down Payment Financing:
If you can provide seller financing specifically to cover the down payment for a traditional bank loan, I can increase the offer.
4.Hybrid Financing:
If you can provide a custom financing structure somewhere between options 2 and 3, I can increase the offer.
If they show interest in any of these paths, close with: “I can email you a short checklist of the items I need, and I can have a formal offer on your desk for all four scenarios within [XX] days.” (The faster, the better).
Moving to the Next Stage
Remember, verbal offers must be quickly backed up by a written Purchase Offer or Letter of Intent (LOI) containing adequate due diligence time. If you haven’t closed several of these deals before, ensure your timeline allows you to get a formal feasibility study or appraisal.
Part 2 Coming Soon: Crunch the Numbers. Quickly understand how increases in cap rates and gross income, along with decreases in expenses directly affect your facility’s cash flow and overall valuation and how to prioritize the exact strategies to make it happen.
As CEO of Storage Authority Franchising, Marc Goodin shares his passion, expertise, and unconventional wisdom with busy professionals to help them develop their own self-storage while they continue their careers. He owns 3 self-storage facilities that he designed, built, and manages. He can be reached at marc@StorageAuthority.com or directly at 860-830-6764 to answer your franchising, development, marketing, sales, and operations questions. His best-selling self-storage books are available at Amazon.
Marc Goodin
860-860-6764