Hi All,

I've been intrigued with the concept of self storage for years... Does anyone know if there is a difinitive guide to starting or buying one? What about an association, or web forum?

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Richmond Realtor

Richmond Real Estate Investor Association REIA

In my area the demand for self storage is amazing. We've been tossing around the idea ourselves. It seems that there are quite a few goig up here and they fill up very quickly. Here's a link to an association. The virtual trade show has alot of vendor resources.

If you're looking to build a new facility, odds are the lender will require you to have a feasibility study done. There are experts out there who can analyze your entire market with an added focus on the 3-mile radius of the location you have targeted. They determine the total number of units in the market, vacancy rates, average rents, population, subs with covenants restricting on-site storage (junk piles, in other words), they meet with owners and managers of existing storage facilities...and on and on. Cost is about $5-7,000. If you need a name let me know. We worked with one based in California but that travels to the subject city, and she was extremely sharp.