279. How I Bought a $1.5M Self Storage Facility as a Complete Beginner w/Ben Kall

Get my FREE self storage starter pack to learn how to analyze, underwrite, and operate your next storage investment: https://www.selfstorageincome.com/start-podcast  What does it take to buy your first self storage facility? Just ask Ben Kall, whose first investment was a $1.5M facility after having ZERO experience in the industry. Sounds like a big jump, doesn’t it? Thankfully, Ben is going to show you how to do the same today, explaining how to buy a storage facility (even with no previous experience in investing), work with banks, and manage a business. But don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds! Ben has a handful of do’s and don’ts he’s sharing with us in this episode, and we go through everything! From structuring your loan with the bank to why you should treat your self storage facility like a hotel, seller financing and creative financing terms that are working for Ben, and building your buy box so you can achieve financial freedom! Ben has grown quickly, going from zero self storage to 125,000 net rentable square feet in under a decade. He’s been able to take home six figures in cash flow (seriously!) and has amassed a sizable portfolio in a very short amount of time. This is a masterclass in buying your first facility and scaling up!   What you’ll learn in today’s show: The do’s and don’ts of buying your first self storage facility  The creative financing offers Ben uses to get sellers to accept  How to negotiate with banks and lenders so you get better terms Why you want to treat your facility like a hotel and put convenience first  Picking the right partners and why this is crucial if you want to scale faster  The “buy box” you must build BEFORE you buy a facility 📷 Ben’s Businesses and Instagram: https://www.mn-storage.com/ https://www.waukeestorage.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ben_kall_/  Links:  📌 Make self storage management easier than EVER with our podcast sponsor Tenant Inc. - https://www.tenantinc.com/ 📑 Our Self-Storage Feasibility Studies will help you speed up the process in understanding markets, potential risks, and analyzing the facility itself.  https://cedar.cc/feasibility-studies/  🎙️ Do you have a great story to share on the SSI or AJ Osborne podcasts? You can now apply here!  https://form.asana.com/?k=TGU88eU0bFTFW1iHcckuTA&d=1203571084143207  📖 Get AJ's book that teaches you everything he knows about self-storage https://a.co/d/aRSKcSq  📉 Take advantage of today’s market conditions and invest with us:  https://cedar.cc/invest