As an investment.....Anyone ever owned one or know someone who does? Pros/cons? Opinions and experience appreciated.

Building or buying one? I have never seen one go out business. And you can live there! People love storing crap and pay for it!

There is a member on here that owns one. I wanted to, but life changes and so did that. I was told my idea was dumb by many people and family, so my investment pool dried up. Now there have been 3 new ones pop up in Forney in the past 2 years and they are full. Yep, I dumb

Doubt I would ever build one, but have looked at buying an existing. For me the hassle of buying land, permitting, developing it, and building would be too time consuming and out of my comfort zone. Plus benefit of immediate cash flow is more my preference, even though there is probably more appreciation potential in building one if you can get the land for cheap enough.

I always thought they built them in hopes land would appreciate enough to develop but I have never seen that so must be cash flow rich. Some have been around for almost 30 years here so must be enough cash flow not to sell to a developer.

boat storage around lakes always good - marines run the small/ski/wake boats out due to slip fees - plus they have to have a place to keep them during the winter. HOA don't like boats sitting around either. plus they can store crap in them also

Always seemed like a good investment but I wouldn’t want to buy an existing one, not build a new one.

Opinion.
They are a good investment. Low overhead and most have high occupancy rates. Many that are profitable are bought out by the larger companies.

I don't own one, but know a few people that do in Texas and Louisiana.

They pay for themselves relatively quickly then comes the profit.

I am currently paying for an empty unit in Rockport to store my RV in in a few months, paying for an empty unit so I don't lose it. That's how few & far between they are around here. New facilities being built but fill up quick. They won't even answer the phone when all units are filled.

It's all about the location. If you buy an existing one and the occupancy is high, you have to worry about someone building a new one near you. You'll also need to allow for someone or a management company to manage it. I doubt you have time to devote to it. Make sure you do your due diligence for repairs and deferred maintenance if you buy an older property. Better to find one that has been neglected. That way you have more upside. Make a few improvements and up your fees to improve cash flow. If you're just looking for a set return buy a newer property that doesn't require any fix up. Make an offer that gets you your desired return and don't be disappointed if you miss a few deals. Most are cheaply constructed so the older properties can get expensive to fix up. Find someone that knows exactly how much it takes to make needed repairs and get the occupancy stabilized as quickly as you can or do it in stages so cash flow is least disrupted. Good luck.

Did they build them or buy them already built?

They built them.

One buddy of mine bought a good piece of land and built what he could afford then. It paid for itself and then he had more concrete poured and buildings put up. He just kept adding on over the years. This was a second job for him. Now that property is pretty much full of nice storage barns and he's making money. He pays a small staff to manage & take care of the place. Not instant cash, took a little time but he's turning a profit now.

Doc, I bought a Rem. R15 from you several years ago.
I have 120 units that I built back in '07 and I have collected rent for almost 12 years. My wife manages our, we have had several serious buyers and my wife says no. I wish I had done it many years earlier.
I would buy existing but I would be very curious why they are for sale. Remember LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
You can contact me if you want more info. I am leaving this morning for Tulsa Gun Show and I will be back Monday.

Seems like a pretty simple business model compared to other business.

there are a bunch around fork that don't have on site mgr, boat/rv storage, that is where i would put any money I had available due to rec equip being more likely to pay and even prepay for long term.
I prepay a yr at a time for my boat storage.

up side is also that if someone did happen to end up in arrears and you had to evict you recoup your l owed money a lot easier with a boat or rv. not sure how all that works but I have seen it done and they turned a nice profit over the owed money.

boat/rv can also be enclosed ie. 12x30 for boats and roof only like the parking at dfw airport. whole lot cheaper when just a large roof is all you have to build.

I would buy one, but don't see them coming for sale often. The last one I saw local to me that sold I wish like hell I would have had an opportunity to buy. I didn't look too deeply into it, but it was a smaller property only 2-3 acres, sold for $200,000 and produced a $23,000 NOI.

Friend of mines family opened the 1st one in forney right on 80. Rascal made them a lot of money. They sold when they could see what was coming, service road went one way etc. Retired on it.

I thought about it for about 25 years before I built mine. Good income for my wife and I. We stay about 99% occupied. We have waiting list.

I wish I had done it a long time ago myself. Just from what I've heard from a guy with some and another man that did a lot of homework on building some at Fork:

Liability insurance was going to be higher for boat storage facilities due to higher fire risks of fuel and batteries. Low pitch roofs tend to leak sooner or later and you could get a claim for damages to one's property. Some of these boats are getting real expensive and a leaky roof can cause more damage the longer the boat sits before the owner discovers it and tells the owner about the leak. I heard rodent damage can be a liability issue as well.

Other than that, what was said above about recreational property storage having a higher quality clientele is probably right. I know of a manager of a large facility here in town that spends a LOT of time chasing renters for payment.

There is a storage facility at Winnsboro that is a long row of shipping containers. That could be a lower maintenance option. I wonder about a cost difference vs. building traditional. The down side is width. I can't see that for boat storage.

YUUUUP!

Yes sir, I remember meeting you I think in Waxahachie/Ennis area. Hope that R15 has served you well on your prairie dog hunts.

If you could PM me your phone number I'd like to touch base with you and get some more info....

11.5% return. The stock market return last 5 years was 10.2%.

You are either going to pay an ultra premium or buy a failing/slow growing location.

Have three buddies that have done it. One was coastal boat specific(wash, ice) etc. he has 20 slip waiting list.

In your defense it will be the simplest development you have done. You don’t have to build it all out at once you can build it out in phases. Metal buildings are about the easiest construction out there.

I really want to put one in but think I missed my window open at the coast.

Always wanted to own one. That and a self serve car wash. Oh... and a driving range too