Investing in Self-Storage
Facilities: An Overview
Richard Stephens
February 01 2008
For more than thirty years, an ever growing number of
people from different walks of life have elected to
become involved in self-storage investment industry.
These men and women have determined that adding real
estate investments to their overall financial portfolio
would serve a number of useful, beneficial and
profitable purposes. In this regard, a significant
number of real estate investors have elected to put
their money into Self-Storage Facilities.
If you are considering investing in real estate
yourself, you will want to take a look at the pros and
cons of putting your money into storage properties. In
this regard, the reality is that you likely will find
that you can realize some important benefits from
putting some of your own money into self storage
investment properties.
The first factor that you need to consider when you are
contemplating an investment in self storage property is
the size of the property itself. The bottom line is
that Storage properties run from simple parking spaces
to secured multi-level buildings with multiple units.
Needless to say, as the number of individual units in a
self-storage facility increase, so will your
responsibilities, obligations and duties.
Second, your own real estate investment experience comes
into play when you are considering the purchase of
self-storage facilities. Therefore, you need to
seriously analyze your own capabilities in light of the
responsibilities you will assume if you purchase a
storage facility. If your experience (and time) is
limited, you will want to make sure that you look for an
appropriate manager or management company to assist you
with the duties of running and overseeing the property
in question.
Third, before you make a purchase of any self-storage
facility, you need to make absolutely certain that you
obtain appropriate independent inspections of the
facility at hand. You will want to make certain that
you engage and utilize the services of certified
inspectors, always. These are inspectors that have the
necessary experience and training to undertake an
appropriate inspection of the storage facility you are
considering purchasing. You cannot rely on an
inspection that was performed by the seller's inspector
and without your involvement and participation.
By paying attention to these considerations, you will be
in the best possible position to begin a course of
investing in and owning self storage facilities on the
right foot. You will be putting yourself on a course
for making a nice income through your storage industry
investment.
