Thread: Where/When Is the Next Big Growth in Self-Storage?

Fill in the blanks in this sentence.

"Self-storage development will see the most growth in (insert year) in (insert place)."

Place could be a state, region or another country.

"Self-storage development will see the most growth in 2011 in Idaho."

Everyone looking to build underground survivalist bunkers in preparation for December 21, 2012?

That's literally self-storage. Nice one, Gina.

But seriously, where else?

This is kind of like asking a fisherman where the best spot is. No one wants to give away their idea for where to develop their next site!

Steve

these may or may not be 'the best' spots, but reports like this are always interesting:

http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow....4217&GT1=35000

Cities and towns deemed most livable, best bargains, best growth areas, best anything are usually good bets. The takeaway from these lists is that they often include both big cities and smaller towns, and they are geographically diverse. For instance, who would have expected Buffalo to appear on the list? No offense to MisterJim but that came as a surprise.

Does that mean any town on any such list is an ideal spot? Of course, not. But it does mean that those communities are worth taking a look at to see what they are doing that makes them attractive and to figure out what other places mirror those characteristics but are currently underserved.

I also like reports like this, Alex. Thanks for sharing. This is an MSN list, but I find that Forbes is constantly releasing "Best Cities" lists, too. Funny that Buffalo was No. 2, and it was getting railed this morning on the sports talk radio show I listen to (Mike & Mike in the Morning) about how no one wants to move there.

People relocating often need storage.

As an aside, did you notice how many state capitals are on the list? I counted six of 10: Des Moines, Oklahoma City, St. Paul, Little Rock, Columbia, Columbus (where I've lived). You know what drives the economy in most state capitals, right? Government. Alex, that's your cue.

A poor site in a great market is still a poor site. The macro economic factors present in a particular market are very important, since population growth and economic activity drive market demand. Oppurtinities are present in any market provided supply is not out of hand and if barriers to entry are in place to keep supply in check into the future.

There is a famous story about a farmer in South Africa that sold his farm and traveled all over the continent to find diamonds. After years of unsuccessful searching he found himself exhausted back visiting his old farm and stubbed his toe on an usual rock. What had occurred was that the rock was a very large diamond which was not recognizable to him in its natural state. He left his farm only to find that it was filled with diamonds but he just could not recognize them in their natural state.

Before considering moving to a strange city to look for opportunities in self storage, make sure you look in your own backyard for the diamonds.

As experienced self storage consultants and developers we have looked at thousands of self storage sites in a great number of markets throughout the US. We welcome your calls to answer any questions that you might have and opportunities to help you find acres of diamonds.

Jeff Supnick
Supnick Real Estate
www.supnick.com
jeff@supnick.com

Alex

No offense taken since I am one of those Buffalo natives that left years ago. I kept stubbing my toes Jeff, but they were just big rocks/obstacles being put in place by small minded politicians and bureaucrats making it as difficult as possible to operate a small business.

The people in Western New York are great and so are the restaurants. Let’s not forget the Chicken Wings and Beef on Wick (OK most of you have never heard about that food group yet, but you will some day). The area gets a bad rap for the snow fall, but at times in does get to be a bit much. However, it is usually grey and cloudy from mid December to early March and that can get folks down in the mouth after awhile. It is a wonderful sports town even when they have been a bridesmaid so many times.

The economic conditions have kept the housing affordable, but the politicians in Albany have kept the state incomes taxes among of the highest in the nation. In fact, the real estate taxes for a comparable sized house between Buffalo, NY and Charlottesville, VA are probably more than double in New York compared to the Commonwealth of Virginia. I won’t even bring up NJ taxes Jeff.

Also, a comment on John’s State Capital post and that is to include the fact that most state Capital towns also feature a number of Colleges and Universities. It still surprises me to this day that as each successive announcement comes out about higher education costs rising faster than inflation that no one stops to look at why. I would love to see someone with the political courage to stand up and demand an accounting as to why this has been happening for decades. Everyone in DC is complaining about CEO pay and bonuses. How about looking at pay based upon hours really worked calculations? I know Americans would be shocked on University payrolls. Except of course coaches of sport teams right!

I had better stop before I really get in trouble.

MisterJim444

Sun belt states, because most population growth will happen in west/south region in nxt 20 years.