My FIL just sold his complex. He sold it to a huge corporation and they paid a lot of money for it.
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He and a partner owned some land they couldn't seem to sell after the real estate problems in the early 90s.
Being in the contracting business, they decided to build a storage building and before it was finished they were full. So they built another one, and before it was finished they were full. The buildings were nice and they kept the property clean. The facilities were well run with an apartment on site for manager. It wound up encompassing three seperate lots with IIRC about 12-14 strip buildings full of units built out of wood with steel roll up doors. They also rented Penske moving trucks.
Neither he nor his business partner ever worked a day at the facility after it was done. Obviously they took care of paperwork etc but never were involved in day to day operations. They hired my SIL to run it and she had zero storage experience when she started, but she has a brain and is well organized.
Without getting to far into details:
They both took about 100k a year each out of the business, after all of the bills were paid.
They owned the property, but took a 1.5 million dollar mortgage to fund building it. They sold it last January after owning it for 20 years and they were WELL into seven figures profit (each) after taxes and the the mortgage was paid off. Keep in mind that doesnt include the 200k a year they took while running it.
So yeah, if done correctly its very lucrative. If you run a dimly lit, dirt parking lot, unsecure facility you're probably going to get shitbags that don't pay. When they sold they still had customers that had been with them since the first building was built and they very rarely had more than a couple empty units the whole 20 years they ran it
I don't know if the law changes from state to state or if the poster above who mentioned auctioning a 35,000 boat off has actually ever done it, but.....
They had a guy last year who was behind on his rent in a climate controlled unit. This was the second time he had gotten behind a few grand so they decided to auction the unit. After going thru the proper procedures they cut the lock and there was a Bentley in there. Score! But not really. State law (here anyway) required them to auction the car after filing the proper paperwork and anything they got for the car beyond what they were owed they were legally required to give it to the lien holder if there was one, and if not they had to give the money to the vehicle owner. It's not like they just got to keep it all. Yeah, every day junk that has no UCC filed or title you can sell it and keep the money. Its not the same for big ticket items unfortunately. Pretty rare people actually leave nice stuff behind anyway. Its usually tools or furniture. And if they do leave something pricey it usually belongs to the bank, not them. And the bank wants their money lol!
I also know a few people who own very small facilities and they are always full, too. Its amazing what people will pay to hang on to junk. I have a buddy who bought a property at foreclosure for his auto repair business that had like 20 units in a separate building. The rent from the storage units pays his mortgage/ property taxes/ and all of the overhead in his auto shop, so he doesn't have to work a million hours a week to make ends meet.