How to Sell Your Self-Storage Facility
Before you begin selling your self storage facility, there are a few things that you must consider to make the process as seamless as possible.
The self-storage market has been a lucrative space for investors in the US in the last few decades, with aggressive expansion promising further long-term growth. If you are a storage facility owner who wishes to sell your facility fast for cash, there is no better time than now to do it.
In this guide, we will give you some steps to help you sell your storage property quickly and successfully. We outline how to prepare your business to optimize the sale of your storage property.
1. Create an Exit Strategy
First and foremost, you need to plan an exit strategy for selling your mini-storage property. This will ensure that you can safeguard the value of your existing facility and potentially increase its future value. As you plan your exit strategy, consider the size of your property and your own goals so you can make the right decisions every step of the way.
Consult with a real estate broker or a financial adviser if you require support or guidance in crafting a strategy. Their knowledge of the local commercial property market and the ins and outs of taxes and finances will help you maneuver around the obstacles you may encounter.
Partner with a credible broker or adviser with adequate experience in self-storage facilities. Interview multiple people and ask all the questions you want before hiring the best one among them. An experienced, qualified professional will help you plan your exit strategy and guide you throughout the selling process.
2. Increase The Rents of Your Storage Units
Raising rental rates to jive with the market rate will help you improve the current and future income of your facility. You can generate more appealing financials for your prospective buyers and lenders and sell at a better price.
3. Organize Your Paperwork
Your prospective buyers will assess all of your property’s financial records before they arrive at a final purchase decision. Contact your accountant or financial adviser and enlist their help to gather all the important financial documents you have accumulated, especially in the last year.
Transparency is critical, so present all of your income and expense statements, balance sheets, cash flow, tax returns, and so on.
Organize and update all the necessary government licenses, permits, and certificates. This is important to buyers, as many of them need to acquire financing for buying property. For this, they need to verify the status of all local and state government approvals and licenses for their prospective lenders.
You should also keep a unit mix list ready for all your self-storage units. Categorize the units by their features, such as their interior and exterior sites, sizes, floors, capacities, and so on. Presenting this data to prospective buyers will make it easier for them to gauge potential income in the future and analyze market competitiveness.
Keeping everything organized early on will help you prepare to answer all your potential buyers’ queries.
4. Determine the Value of Your Self-Storage Business
After you collect all the data related to your self-storage property, it is time to get a professional valuation. Getting an accurate and competitive price for your facility is crucial information for potential buyers. A valuation will give them insights into the facility’s past and current performance and its future value.
Rather than pay for an appraisal, you can simply ask a qualified real estate agent or broker for their opinion of a reasonable sales price. However, understand that some agents may provide you an overly-optimistic sales price in order to get the listing. Be aggressive yet realistic and assess your property as a buyer would. Review its pros and cons objectively and set a price based on the current market rate. Factor in property accessibility, neighborhood safety, location, demand, unit sizes, economic elements, and other site and market considerations.
5. Add Upgrades If Necessary
Although this step is not required, adding simple and inexpensive upgrades to your storage facility will compensate for its weaknesses and make potential buyers focus on its strengths. Your property valuation will prove to be a valuable tool in this process. Based on the value of your facility, you can take simple measures to improve and modernize its offline and online systems. You can apply a new coat of paint, upgrade the signage, spruce up the surrounding landscaping, boost lighting at all entry points, repair broken or damaged fixtures, replace outdated furnishings, improve security systems, and so on.
A clean, well-maintained, and secure property will significantly ease the takeover process for a buyer.
You can also turn to your real estate broker for budget-friendly upgrades to beautify your storage property and potentially increase its asking price. They can help you decide which modifications are worth the investment and which will not help you sell. Together, you can make smart decisions so you won’t waste money and go over your budget.
6. List Your Self-Storage Facility for Sale
Finally, you can list your self-storage business for sale and advertise the property listing. Choose the best commercial real estate platforms so you can reach a wide audience and attract the attention of potential buyers. Optimize your listing so as many people as possible know that your storage facility is for sale.
If you’re unsure about the process, contact and enlist a qualified self-storage business broker. Although it is possible to sell a self-storage property without realtor, a broker will help you craft an efficient marketing strategy and provide you with a vast network of potential buyers. The broker will also deal with the nitty-gritty of the selling process.
Conclusion
Selling a self-storage property can seem tricky at first. Whether you own a mini-storage facility or a boat & RV storage space, these six simple steps will help you sell any storage property fast.
If you wish to know more about selling your self-storage facility without using a real estate agent or broker in order to save on those commissions, please contact us today. We are NOT real estate agents looking to list your self-storage property for sale. We are end buyers who buy storage properties directly from owners. If you are thinking about selling your self storage facility, we are happy to discuss your specific situation with absolutely no obligation to see if we might be a good fit for each other.