Independent storage owners · Six states
You built it. When you are ready to hand it off, talk to the buyer, not a broker.
- A free, written valuation and a market report for your county, whether you sell or not
- We buy as it sits. No repairs, no cleanout, no fresh paint, no listing photos
- You pick the closing date. Thirty days, six months, or after next summer
- Nothing is public. No sign, no listing, nothing your tenants can see
I am Gabe Strom. My partners and I buy small self storage facilities from the people who built them, out of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Rather just talk?
No form, no email address, no waiting. Call me and we can have the whole conversation in fifteen minutes.
(970) 875-0088 Get my free valuationIf I miss you, leave a message with your name and I will call you back the same day.
Is this your place?
The facilities we look for are the ones the big buyers drive past.
Institutional buyers want a clean, stabilized, fully automated property with three years of tidy financials. That is not what most of you own, and it is not what we are shopping for.
- Rents that have not changed in five or six years
- No website, or one your nephew built a while back
- Tenants who still mail you a check or drop it in a slot
- No tenant insurance program and no late fees worth mentioning
- A gate or a lock system that is overdue for replacement
- You handle the calls yourself, including the ones on Sunday
These are the kinds of deals we are looking to buy. Simple drive up buildings, numbered doors, a gravel or asphalt drive, serving a town rather than a metro. Nothing fancy, and nothing that needs to be.
None of that is a criticism. A facility that has been run simply and paid for a long time ago is usually a well built one. It just means the value is in what it could do, not only what it does today, and that is the part a broker will not sit down and explain to you.
How this goes
Three steps, and you can stop after any one of them.
You tell us about the facility
A short form or a phone call. Where it is, roughly how many units, roughly how full. Ten minutes at the very most, and you do not need to dig anything out of a filing cabinet first.
We send you a real number and show our work
Within two business days: a value range, and a market report for your county covering rents, population, income, and how much storage has been built nearby. You will see the arithmetic we used. Most owners have never been shown this, because a broker will not produce it without a listing agreement first.
You decide, on your schedule
If the number works, we talk structure: all cash at closing, or payments to you over time, or some of each. If it does not work, you keep the report and we part as friends. I will check in once a year if you would like me to.
Selling to us, or listing it
The difference is mostly what it costs you and who you end up dealing with.
| Selling to us | Listing with a broker | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | None. What we agree on is what you get | Typically four to six percent off the top |
| Who you talk to | Me, from the first call to the closing table | An agent, then a buyer you have never met |
| Timeline | Sixty days, or whenever suits you | Six to twelve months is common |
| Financing risk | No bank. Nothing falls apart at the last minute | The buyer's loan has to come through |
| Condition | As it sits. We have already priced the roof | Repairs and cleanup expected before it shows |
| Privacy | One quiet conversation | A public listing your tenants can find |
| Getting paid | Lump sum, or monthly income for years. Your choice | One check, and the tax bill that comes with it |
Worth understanding before you decide anything
A higher price is not always more money in your pocket.
If you have owned your facility for twenty or thirty years, most of what you would be paid is gain, and a large piece of a lump sum goes to taxes the same year you get it. There is another way to do it that a lot of owners have never had explained to them: we pay you over time instead, at an interest rate we agree on. You get a monthly check, the tax is spread out across the years, and the payments are secured by the property you already know inside and out. If we ever stopped paying, it comes back to you.
Some owners want the clean break and the lump sum, and that is fine, we do that too. But you should at least see both numbers side by side before you decide. We will build you both.
The questions we get first
Straight answers, before you pick up the phone.
Do I have to sell if I ask for a valuation?
No. Most owners who contact us are not ready to sell and some never will be. You are asking a buyer what your facility is worth. That is a question, not a commitment. There is nothing to sign and nobody will hound you afterward.
What if my books are a mess, or I keep them on paper?
That is normal and it is not a problem. Handwritten ledgers, a shoebox of receipts, a spreadsheet your daughter set up. We have worked from all of it. We will tell you exactly which three or four numbers we need and we can find them together on the phone.
Will my tenants or my manager find out?
Not from us. There is no sign, no listing, no photographer, and no open house. Nothing goes on the internet. The conversation stays between the two of us unless and until you decide otherwise.
What if my facility is half empty or needs work?
Then we should definitely talk. A facility running at 60 percent with rents from 2019 is not a flaw in our eyes, it is the reason we are interested. We are not looking for something perfect. We are looking for something real.
Get your free valuation
Tell us about your facility and we will put together a real value range and a market report for your county. There is no cost and no obligation.
Find out what your facility is actually worth.
A real value range, a market report for your county, and a straight conversation with the person who would buy it. No cost, no obligation, no listing agreement.