Exploratory Stage

Learn the Basics

Trachte’s free seminars and videos have been the starting point for self-storage developers across North America. It’s updated throughout the year and serves as a crash course for all things self-storage related. View the seminar schedule here, and check out our introductory webinar here.

Choose Market

Choosing the right location is one of the most important decisions in the process of developing a self-storage facility. This blog post goes into more detail on the property search.

Our “Demand Calculator” tool can help you to determine if a market will support additional storage units. (link)

Research Market

As you zero in on a specific market or parcel, you’ll do more in depth research on the existing competition. How is occupancy, what are their rates, and how do they present themselves? Researching what exists in the market will help you to understand what rates you can charge and what level of quality and curb appeal that it will take to succeed. Download our “Competition Evaluation Form” to help compare them.

There’s a good chance that the site you are considering won’t work out –it could be a zoning issue, a denial of a conditional use permit, and a price that doesn’t work. Researching multiple properties for sale can keep you on track when one doesn’t work out.

Discuss w/ City

Most new developers seriously underestimate the difficulty and time involved in getting a site approved. While e-mail is a great way to ask a quick question or document something important, you will often learn a lot more when you speak to your city’s building official by phone or in person. Understanding your local stormwater and architectural requirements is a critical part of forming a rough cost estimate.

Rough Financial Projection

Before investing in a grading and stormwater plan, you want to have a pretty good idea of whether this project is tracking to be a wise investment. But without a plan, contractors can’t give you bids. Enter the ballpark numbers. Building suppliers, grading contractors and most other trades should be able to give you an informal range to use in the creation of a rough budget. At this point you don’t need to worry about an exact unit mix – think in terms of cost and revenue per square foot. Trachte’s “Basic Investment Calculator” is designed to guide you through this. Contact your Trachte Regional Manager to discuss some typical overall construction budget numbers.

Your goal in preparing a rough budget is to break even under 70% occupied within two years. If that is not possible, your land cost is too high and/or your expected rental income is too low.

The Basic Investment Calculator will help you form a preliminary projection.

Interview Lenders

In addition to understanding likely construction costs, you’ll also want to speak with a lender to determine what type of financing is right for your project. Don’t expect a solid lending commitment yet. The lender will need to have detailed plans and contractor quotes for that. But you can probably get a handle on your available interest rate, loan terms, and collateral requirements.

View a list of experienced self-storage lenders here.

Watch our video on lending options.