Is the 5% management fee in your broker's offering memorandum wrecking your underwriting? On a facility doing $100,000 a year, that line item works out to about $400 a month, and no credible operator will run your phones, pricing, collections, and marketing for that.

Joe Downs pulls back the curtain on third-party management with Adam Wagner, President and Managing Partner of Anytime Storage Property Management.

Following a merger with The Storage Manager, Adam's top 50 firm now runs more than 90 facilities 100% remotely, including three of Joe's boat and RV storage properties.

Adam breaks down what 5% really covers, why lenders trust 3PM numbers more than owner figures, how AI sets weekly pricing with a human approving every move, and when a deal is simply too small to manage.

Underwriting a deal right now? Listen before your money goes hard.

Listen For:

10:30 Is a 5% management fee really enough to run a storage facility?

12:35 Does a 5% management fee cover your storage software and platforms?

16:18 Do lenders lean harder on a 3PM's proforma than on yours?

17:58 Can storage owners hire a 3PM and simply walk away?

22:14 Should owners meet their storage management company every single month?

CONNECT WITH GUEST: ADAM WAGNER, PRESIDENT AND MANAGING PARTNER | ANYTIME STORAGE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Website | LinkedIn | Anytime Storage Property Management LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH US

Joe Downs on LinkedIn

Belrose website | Belrose email | Belrose LinkedIn

Storage Moguls Live. Friday, October 16 in White Marsh, Maryland. One day with self storage owners. Walk through a real facility and learn how they find, finance, and close deals. Only 15 tickets. Register at https://go.storagemoguls.ai/white-marsh-md before Thursday.

What if the deal you lost to another buyer becomes your very first storage facility?

Joe Downs sits down with Austin McLeod, who launched the self-storage division at Matthews in 2018, closed the firm's first storage deal, and has since closed roughly $850 million in self-storage transactions across 26 states.

Austin pulls back the curtain on how brokers size up first-time buyers within seconds, why a lower offer backed by proof of funds and a clear underwriting story can beat the highest bid, and which offering memorandum details, from flood zones to property tax reassessments, catch new buyers off guard.

With 2021 and 2022 bridge loans maturing at much higher rates in 2026, motivated sellers are surfacing now.

This is the storage investing playbook for getting the broker's first call before a deal ever hits the market again.

Listen For:

3:32 Can a storage broker tell you're a first-time buyer in 30 seconds?

10:22 Should you still send an LOI if the storage deal is under contract?

14:38 Will a storage broker recommend a lower offer over the highest bid?

24:24 Is asking about seller financing a red flag to storage brokers?

28:21 Should you submit an offer that's $500K below the asking price?

CONNECT WITH GUEST: AUSTIN MCLEOD, SENIOR VP AND DIRECTOR OF SELF STORAGE

Website | LinkedIn | Email

CONNECT WITH US

Joe Downs on LinkedIn

Belrose website | Belrose email | Belrose LinkedIn

Save Your Seat here

Storage Moguls Live. Friday, October 16 in White Marsh, Maryland. One day with self storage owners. Walk through a real facility and learn how they find, finance, and close deals. Only 15 tickets. Register at https://go.storagemoguls.ai/white-marsh-md before Thursday.

What if the worst website in town is attached to the best deal you'll see all year?

Two Storage Moguls students bought a self-storage facility with no website and a phone nobody answered, then pushed it past 70% occupancy in under a year.

Joe Downs sits down with Alex Keller, who leads the sales team at StoragePug, the self-storage website platform that has grown from roughly 250 to 2,500 locations during his nearly seven years there.

Together they pull back the curtain on why 63 to 67 percent of storage rentals now happen on a phone, how AI search is rewriting local discovery, and how buyers can turn a seller's digital neglect into underwriting upside.

For anyone pursuing storage acquisitions in 2026, these are proven storage investment strategies for finding revenue hiding in plain sight before the next buyer spots it.

Listen For:

3:25 Does your self-storage website fail the simple rent-a-unit test?

9:37 Is hiding your rates online costing your storage facility rentals?

13:37 Is ChatGPT replacing Google for tenants searching for storage units?

20:02 Can a seller's weak website signal hidden upside in a storage deal?

25:08 Is it fair to underwrite extra rentals after adding a storage website?

CONNECT WITH GUEST: ALEX KELLER, SALES TEAM LEAD | STORAGEPUG
Website | LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH US

Joe Downs on LinkedIn

Belrose website | Belrose email | Belrose LinkedIn