Everything we know about planning a self-storage build, written down and given away. No email gate, no drip sequence — just the guides we would walk you through on the phone anyway.
Most self-storage projects go wrong at the planning stage, not the building stage. People anchor on a cost-per-square-foot number they read somewhere, buy a parcel that can't fit the drive aisles, or spec a unit mix their market doesn't want.
These guides exist because we'd rather you catch those problems now than after the concrete is poured. They're the same explanations we give on the phone. If one of them talks you out of a bad project, it did its job.
If you're still deciding whether to do this at all, read this one first.
The honest version. What actually determines whether a specific project returns — local demand, your cost basis, achievable rents — and the conditions under which it doesn't.
Read this before you spend money on anything else.
Read the guide →One explains the model. The other runs your numbers through it.
Every line item that moves your number: building package, loads, doors, foundations, coatings, region, schedule. Plus what sits in ROI's scope and what belongs to your contractor.
Use it to build a budget you can defend to a lender.
Read the guide →Put in your dimensions, building type, and your own market rent. Get an all-in cost range and a rough simple payback. Every assumption is labeled and editable — we don't inject rent or occupancy as if it were our data.
Use it for a starting range in about a minute.
Read the guide →Once the project makes sense on paper, these are the decisions that shape it.
What the common footprints typically give you in rentable units, what each one suits, and how much land each actually needs once drive aisles and turning space are counted.
Use it when you're choosing dimensions or sizing up a parcel.
Read the guide →Roll-up versus sheet curtain, sizing doors to your unit mix, what fails first and why, and what's involved in replacing doors on an existing facility.
Use it before you sign off on a door schedule.
Read the guide →Why vacant retail converts well, the zoning catch that kills otherwise-good deals, and how to tell early whether a specific building is worth pursuing.
Use it if you're looking at an existing building rather than raw land.
Read the guide →The guides cover the thinking. These cover the buildings themselves.
Tell us about your project and we'll send you a detailed quote with engineering specs, pricing breakdown, and estimated timeline. No obligation, no follow-up spam.
