Self Storage Investing at Scale w/ Ryan Gibson of Spartan Investment Group

A storage unit rent hike turned airline pilot Ryan Gibson into a 90-property self storage operator.Ryan Gibson spent 20 years flying for the airlines before a frustrating experience as a storage unit renter sent him down a different path. Today he co-runs Spartan Investment Group, a 90-property, 7.5 million square foot self storage portfolio spread across 15 states, making it the 29th largest operator in the country. In this conversation, Ryan and Jack dig into why storage demand holds up in good times and bad, why Ryan refuses to leverage past 55% on a deal even when the market rewards more aggressive operators, and the due diligence and hiring systems that let a former pilot scale a 200-person company.Key topics:The rent hike that pushed Ryan into self storage investingThe four Ds that make storage demand recession resistantWhy he caps leverage at 50-55% instead of chasing "no money down" dealsThe 700-point due diligence checklist his team runs on every propertyHiring advice: why he'd never hire another entrepreneurUsing AI to automate investor reporting across 55+ assetsGuest bio:Ryan Gibson is a co-founder at Spartan Investment Group and host of the Passive Income Pilots podcast, where he helps fellow airline pilots learn passive real estate investing.Links:Free training and resources: spartan-investor.comWork With RealDealCrewIf you’re already closing deals but your intake, follow-up, or visibility feels inconsistent, here are two ways to go deeper:Take the Deal Intake AssessmentSee how resilient your current operation actually is.→ https://assessment.realdealcrew.comBook a Fit CallIf you want to explore what a fully system-driven deal flow looks like, let’s talk.→ https://realdealcrew.com/bookLIKE • SHARE • JOIN • REVIEWWebsiteApple PodcastsYouTubeYouTube MusicSpotifyAmazon MusicFacebookTwitterInstagram