All self-storage investing revolves around obtaining financing. While most people think this is their job and must do it themselves, there is another option and that’s utilizing a “capital consultant” which is also known as a “Loan broker”. And you should think about this before you start contacting lenders.

Many people see their banker as a roadblock and a pain. But I see bankers as role models for smart storage investing. So why would all smart self-storage investors be better off thinking like a banker?

Bill Gates is best known for being the founder of Microsoft and one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of around $140 billion. But he has recently branched out into a new arena as a significant self-storage investor. He has bought a large stake in StorageMart, which is the largest privately-owned self-storage provider in the world.

Being creative sometimes allows you to build successful deals from seemingly hopeless beginnings. In self-storage investing it’s the ability to think outside the box that makes some deals possible. In this episode of the Self Storage University podcast we’re going to review some strategies that allow you to take deals that are never going to work and put them back on a solid footing using just one ingredient: creativity.

Self-storage investing is not bullet proof, and there is no Kevlar vest to protect you if you do not plan accordingly. Although self-storage did well during the 2008 Great Recession – the implosion of the single-family market – it has done nearly as well in weathering the Covid pandemic which began in March of 2020. And there are already lessons to be learned.