The Investors Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage
How to Turn a Real Estate Asset Into a Thriving Business
By AJ Osborne 2020
All rights reserved. Use of any part of this publication, whether reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior consent of the publisher, is an infringement of copyright law and is forbidden.
While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. The stories and interviews in this book are true although the names and identifiable information may have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
The publisher and author shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to loss, damage, or injury caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. The information presented herein is in no way intended as a substitute for counseling or other professional guidance.
Print ISBN: 978-1-7352588-0-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-7352588-1-2
PDF eBook ISBN: 978-1-7352588-2-9
Interior Design by: Fusion Creative Works, FusionCW.com
Cover Design by: Mirko Pohle
Lead Editor: Jennifer Regner
For more information, visit SelfStorageIncome.com
Book Production by Aloha Publishing
Published by
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to my partners, Ron Osborne and Sam Whitaker. This book represents our cumulative knowledge, not just mine. Without my partners, it would not exist.
I also dedicate this to every person on our staff, who have all helped us every step of the way.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I opened my eyes. It was brightmust be in the afternoon. I was glad it wasnt night; the nights were confusing and scary to me. It was the pain that woke meit was always the pain. It was relentless, moving from terrible to excruciating. The nurses were going in and out as my mom and wife sat, talking and playing with my new 5-month-old son, Theo.
My mouth was so dry it felt like it was cracking. I hadnt had water in weeks, and it felt like years. Time had become a strange concept to me, and I was not sure of the day or month. I was not even sure how long I had been there. The pain became more intense so I moved my head up and down, trying to get someones attention.
Not that there was anything they could do. I wanted to scream, but I had long lost my ability to speak or do anything else on my own. Tubes ran in and out of my body. My body had even lost the ability to keep itself alive. I was paralyzed from head to toe. As if being paralyzed wasnt enough, the pain was overwhelming: every inch of my body suffered. My skin felt like it was on fire, a 24-hour burn. The weight of my own body felt like it was crushing my bones. I lay naked in the bed because even the weight of a light sheet was too much to bear .
For what seemed like an eternity, every morning I opened my eyes and was surprised that I wasnt dead. Many times, I wished I was. Every waking hour was a fight, one that I did not know how to win.
I was moved from hospital to hospital. They eventually sent me to a facility that would keep me on life support with no known checkout date. Because my eyes were partially paralyzed, I could only see to the end of my bed. It was impossible for me to know where I was. The nurses came in and out, checking on vitals and tending to me. They would roll my lifeless body over to bathe me by wiping my body down.
I was not always like this. I am a father of four who loves the outdoors: hiking, skiing, fly-fishing, and anything else that would get me into the mountains. I was 33 when, one night, I started to feel pain in my legs. That night we went to the ER, but they sent me home because there was nothing wrong with me. They said I was perfectly healthy.
Within hours, my legs stopped working. No one could figure out what was happening. Within days, I went from being fit enough to run several miles to not being able to breathe. The last thing I remember before medical professionals put me under was my wife telling me they were going to get me help and stop the pain. When I opened my eyes, I was on life support, paralyzed from head to toe.
But I survived and slowly started getting better. As you can imagine, becoming paralyzed from head to toe and living on life support can create some challenges in life. Challenges that do not have answerssomething I was growing accustomed to. Will I walk again? We dont know. Will I be able to go home next month? We dont know. Will the pain end? We dont know. By this time, I was just happy I could speak. I had been on tubes for so long that every little thing was a miracle to me. It had been months since I had gone into the hospital and did not know when I would leave. I didnt even get to say good-bye to my children.
Before this breakdown happened, I worked for a national insurance brokerage company. I had always been in sales. My father worked in the insurance industry and I followed in his footsteps. I loved sales and the idea that I was in control of my income .
We made our money on commissions. My clients paid me and if I wanted to make more, I would go out and sell more. There was no steady, reliable paycheck. My wife and I had to live far below our means because we never knew when we could lose a large client and our income could drop.
At first, I felt like this was the best path toward financial freedom. But I quickly realized that I was on a treadmill. If I stopped working, my clients stopped paying and my income ended. The harder I worked, the more money I made, but if I stopped workingjust like anyone with a normal paycheckthe money stopped coming in. This vehicle would not take me to financial freedom, and I needed to find one that would. Luckily for me, I found that wealth vehicle before I was knocked down. I would never get on the sales treadmill again.
As I lay in my bed, still immobile, I was told that my boss was flying in to visit me. I knew what was coming. It was very considerate of the company I worked for to wait and keep me on the payroll at least until I could talk again. The visit was short and considerate; I knew they would not be able to keep me employed. It had been months, after all, and I still had not left the hospital. It was understood that my employment had ended, and I would not be coming back. We still didnt know when I would leave the hospital or if I would ever walk again. I lay there looking out my window, paralyzed and now unemployed, but not scared and not worried.
CHAPTER 1
How I Found Self Storage and How It Saved Me
I believe that self storage offers more income and wealth creation than any commercial real estate asset, or more than any other commercial real estate asset, on the market. It is through self storage that I was able to become financially free. It was through self storage that I was able to gain enough passive income that when I could no longer work, I didnt need to.
