HI GWM...great post...


Question - I'm not planning to build one of these facilities, but I understand their appeal to you. I've not bought any of the REITs in this field for the reason that I'm afraid of the lack of barriers to entry in self-storage and the risks of overbuilding are very real, IMHO. Especially in low barrier to entry markets...like...uh...yours.

That's why I'm especially interested in hearing from you on the topic. Who else is in business in your area? What does it take to differentiate yourself from other mom-n-pop operations in SS? Do any ot the major REITs compete there with the private owners?

I'm probably wrong, but my impression is that this is one area where you could quickly go from being a business with nice math (as you've illustrated) to one with bad math due to margin contraction as a result of overbuilding at some stage, and lack of differentiation from your competitors.

Again, thanks for the good post. I appreciate outside-the-box-inside-the-self-storage-facility thinking.

ET