346. How to Make Your Storage Portfolio "Bullet Proof" (Even in a Down Market)

We survived 2008, the pandemic, high interest rates, and now a wildly volatile economy—but it’s not the same for other self storage owners. I’ve been getting calls over the last 6 months from operators losing their facilities, trying to restructure, and get out. They’ll lose money, lose their properties, and most likely lose the relationships with their banks, lenders, or investors.   This is how to not be in that position. This is how to become “hard to kill” in self storage.   What most investors don’t realize is that to thrive, you need first to survive—and this is exactly how to do it. I’ll share how much liquidity (cash reserves) you should have on-hand at all times, how to put your numbers over your emotion and never panic buy or sell, what to do when big competitors drop rates (by 50%!) in your market, and the playbook we used to build a $300M+ storage portfolio while everyone else was severely unprepared.   If you can stay in a strong position in 2026, you will have opportunities coming your way that won’t resurface for years.   What you’ll learn in today’s show:   How to make your self storage portfolio “hard to kill” even by big competitors  Cash reserves: how much you should keep in your accounts at all times How to survive the intense rate drops of big competitors (REITs) in your market  Stop letting your emotions run your portfolio (this will lead you to lose money) What we did in 2008, 2020, and now 2026 to buy opportunities of a lifetime  Preparing for maintenance costs, especially when you’re in the slow season   — Grab AJ’s Book, Growing Wealth in Self-Storage 2.0 - https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Wealth-Self-Storage-2-0-Post-Pandemic/dp/1735258865  Why I Bought Self Storage in a Recession  https://www.selfstorageincome.com/blog/why-i-bought-self-storage-in-a-recession  Self Storage Investing 101  https://www.selfstorageincome.com/blog/self-storage-investing-101