Here’s how I bought my first Self Storage facility - A story for beginners like me So you’ve been on retwit and lurked in the background. You’re like me and listened to every episode of @sweatystartup start-up, browse loop net, and dream about hitting tenants with rent increases, BUT you haven’t taken any action. This is how I got started and how I bought my first (small) facility. After many late nights on Google Maps, tax records, and Google Sheets, I optimistically started mailing letters to a few facility owners to hopefully land an off-market deal… no luck.. dang @bairdk makes this sound easy. One day I’m cruising Facebook marketplace and think what the heck... I wonder if someone is selling a facility on here. Bingo, small facility in a small town listed for $285,000..Run some numbers… I can do that, let me show the Mrs… like sweet music to my ears she says “We should buy this”. I found out it’s publicly listed on the MLS (poorly) I’m a Realtor and can barely even find this thing. It had been listed for a few months. 95% occupied, no sign, no Google page, the owner accepts cash and lives up the street. I wrote up an offer for $240,000 and a week later it was accepted. Now for financing… boy was it hard to find someone to lend on such a small amount. I reached out to a local-ish credit union that did the financing on on my small apartment complex. Thankful for the relationship as they offered the best terms. 80/20 LTV - 25 year am 10 year term- 5-year arm- 6 month Interest only. 7.625% interest rate. Even with in-place rents I cash flowed day 1. Game plan: Transfer everyone over to digital rent management and start accepting credit cards. Google business page (already getting down calls), QR codes for new leases, and local landscaper is my boots on the ground. We closed in 2023 and EZPZ Mini Storage is off to the races....@PublicStorage watch out! Up next… rent increases.. I gave it about a month onboarded everyone to our digital lease platform, actually got to 100% occupancy from our Google my business page, then started with rent increases. about at 20% increase and were still on the affordable side in town. One tenant, responded to the increase email and actually said he was happy to pay a higher price since he was able to pay with a credit card online. I actually got an undercover call from @CaseyMericle the other day, as he was looking for storage in Texas... ?? He said he was going to check with is wife about pricing so I guess she thought I was too expensive. Also made me realize i listen to @fortworthchris podcast too much since i recognized his voice. Grateful for this app and everyone who shares their wealth of knowledge. Excited for the future… oh and deal number 2 is on the way!

I hate getting my wallet out while at any drive thru line window. After you order, a QR code should pop up on the screen where I can scan with my home and pay via Apple Pay. Increased efficiency at the window & happier customers!

View RN listening to @fortworthchris courtesy of @Starlink

Bout to bonus depreciate this coffee @recostseg

Headphones should be mandatory! Spent the week traveling. Lots of time in a subway & airports. People are scrolling instagram, FaceTiming, or playing videos for their kids at full volume. I’m just trying to have a conversation with my wife and enjoy this cup of coffee in peace

I bought my own clients listing. 408 Days on Market. I had the listing for ~200 days. They basically never allowed showings, going through a divorce, lots of drama. Hard to sell your home when I can’t do my job, pretty sad. Eventually they were about to accept a super low offer, buyer came back and asked for… A FRIDGE. Killed the deal. I said “I’ll buy it for that price - keep your fridge” - Contract Signed One problem, I didn’t have the money (classic). I went to a family friend 8%, I/O, 12 month term - sign me up Work: New roof, new paint, new fixtures, update fireplace, re-glaze bathrooms, light landscaping, and signature new front door. After closing & repairs, I’m looking at $107k of equity in ~32 day. My plan: Keep it as a rental, cost-seg, portfolio refi with another property, wait till peak selling season, 1031 into a larger deal. Feels great to provide a family in need this option for a quick no contingency sale. New family will get a great place to live for 1-2 years, and best of all I get to defer some taxes. Before & Afters 👇🏼

Having Apple Music is the most Android thing you can do

I just refinanced a SFR at a 7.9% rate… hear me out. The refi was a Cashout First Lein HELOC for $300k on a $400k home. I love the idea of paying off my mortgage early, but any extra payment I make is locking that $$ away… As an investor, I want to have access to capital/liquidity so when I heard about this product, it got my attention. The rate is floating and is calculated on the average daily outstanding balance. Interest-only payments. My high-interest savings was paying 4% on escrow savings, security deposits, and cap-ex money. In my head, I’m now making my money work harder since I don't have tax on the interest income and paying less to a bank in interest. Transfers from my LOC to my business account take 2 business days… What are your thoughts??

Why is it that the rest of society needs this reminder? As a business owner/ entrepreneur more work is a drug and fuel for the machine. A good reminder this morning leaving the gym to stay humble, be grateful, and over deliver.

I’d just like to take a moment and say @fortworthchris YouTube Thumbnail game is absolutely fire!! Who ever is making these things needs a raise!

Every once in a while, someone asks for good LLC names. This story has got to go in the Hall of Fame! tiktok.com/t/ZTLSA1NJB/

Home prices in Texas are getting a little unreasonable

Houston is a diverse place… but let me tell ya. IKEA in Houston on the weekend, is an absolute melting pot! I probably heard 7 different languages being spoken.

I voted this morning and it was comical how much of a cluster it was! No hanging chads with this “digital” system, but we didn’t think through who would be running these systems… Let’s just say I think all the millennials in my town are commuting to work, while Larry the “IT Guy” was pacing around in his Sketcher Shape ups trying to reach voter central on his Motorola flip phone. 35 minutes after the polls opened we were able to cast a ballot. People were leaving the line. I’m not saying this is the reason voter turnout is down, but it has to contribute… especially to a younger generation. What are your ideas for how to streamline voting and get a high turnout?

Having my first “friends and family” private money pitch later today for a few deals I’ve got in the pipeline 🤞🏼

What is your favorite VoIP?? Not looking to get too complicated, but I want a good platform that I could grow into with multiple lines and lead-tracking. Bonus points if I know which number is being called, currently use Google Voice and not too happy with it. Self Storage, rental business, property management.. eventually having VA's handle it. @sweatystartup @bairdk @BrentBeshore @SullyBusiness

1. I paid NO federal income tax in 2021 and a less than 5% effective tax rate in 2022 - All thanks to bonus depreciation! 2. I’ve used @recostseg now for 3 properties and love their service. Quick estimates (with ROI), virtual site visits, and easy to understand reports.

If someone knows the PR person for Brussels Sprouts in the last few years… I’d love to hire them for my Real Estate business

I sold to Zillow in 2021 and they paid a WILD price! I calculated it was worth 9 years of appreciation 🤯- No brainer, here's the story and what I learned: I graduated from Texas A&M in 2018, went into full-time residential brokerage (got my license as a freshman in college), and dreamed of being a real estate investor. I was on a grind to get my 2 years of tax returns to qualify for a conventional mortgage. I ended up buying my first rental from a client of mine before we were going to list their home on the MLS in October 2020. This is where things get a little messy… I hadn’t found them a new home to buy, so we set up a 3-month lease back. Well, we didn’t just find them a new home but found they had pretty bad credit problems and couldn’t qualify for a new mortgage. So they used some of their cash (from the sale) to pay off some debt and began working on credit. I also registered them on a website called Rent Reporter where as their landlord I could report their payments to help build their credit. Credit repaired- I sold them an awesome new home! They lived in my rental for just under 10 months and once they moved out many more cosmetic defects of the property were revealed… this property was about 1 hour away from where I was living (Houston is HUGE) and became very stressful to DIY some renovations by myself. Thankfully it was down the street from Homedepot! Cut me some slack I was 25. One day while working in the Houston summer I wanted to rage quit and went to Open Door to see what kind of cheddar💰 they would give me. Nice price but then they backed out because it was too much work for what they wanted. I continued to update the home and eventually tried Zillow’s cash offer… it was 43% higher than what I paid 11 months ago. I’m in!! We contracted and started working towards closing. I did a 1031 exchange with the proceeds (story for another day) and scheduled the closing for 366 days after my original purchase date. The NEXT DAY Zillow announced they would be stopping their cash offer program. Such a blessing from The Lord! Major takeaways from my first time being a landlord: 1. Being a landlord can have an amazing positive impact on tenants’ financial lives 2. Always run a credit check…duh 3. Every property I now own is within 15 mins of a Homedepot 4. Never be too attached to something material, bigger things could be in the future… maybe an 8-unit apartment complex 5. Your Zestimate is probably wrong