👇WATCH EPISODE 👇
From Corporate Job to Real Estate Freedom
Alex’s journey started like many people’s. He grew up in a middle-class family and followed the “safe” path college, then a job at General Electric. But pretty quickly, he realized that corporate life wasn’t going to give him the freedom he wanted.
A backpacking trip through Europe became a turning point. During long train rides across more than 20 countries, Alex immersed himself in books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, The E-Myth, and Think and Grow Rich. Somewhere between cities, he made a decision: when he returned home, he was going to pursue real estate.
That decision mattered. Within weeks, an opportunity showed up an invitation to a real estate bootcamp. Shortly after, Alex sent out his first direct mail campaign and closed a wholesale short sale that netted him $44,000. That was enough proof that real estate could work.
But success doesn’t always equal fulfillment.
When a Profitable Business Becomes a Prison
One of the most important lessons Alex shared is something I see all the time with entrepreneurs and investors: you can build something profitable that still traps you.
His wholesaling business was generating strong cash flow, but it came with constant stress. Fires to put out. Deals that required nonstop attention. A large team. High overhead. When he played the movie forward, he realized he didn’t want to still be doing that a year later.
That’s a powerful exercise I encourage people to do. If you project your current path forward, do you like the life it creates?
Alex didn’t. So he stepped back and got intentional. He asked himself what he actually wanted: time freedom, remote operations, fewer headaches, strong margins, and scalability. That search led him to self-storage.
Why Self-Storage Checked the Right Boxes
Self-storage isn’t flashy. It doesn’t get the same attention as apartments or short-term rentals. But that’s part of the appeal.
From an operational standpoint, storage offers several advantages:
- Lower operating expense ratios, often 30–40% compared to 50% or more in multifamily
- Ability to run facilities remotely using technology and call centers
- Fewer employees, sometimes none on-site
- High-margin fee income opportunities
- Customers tend to stay longer than people expect
Alex explained that the average storage customer stays a little over two years. And once people move their belongings into a unit, they’re reluctant to move them again. That “stickiness” creates stability, even during economic shifts.
When times are good, people buy more stuff and need storage. When times are tight, people downsize but don’t want to get rid of their things so they still need storage. That dynamic is what makes the asset class resilient.
Forced Appreciation: The Real Wealth Lever
One of the biggest advantages of self-storage is forced appreciation. Unlike single-family homes, where value is largely based on comparable sales, storage facilities are valued based on income.
Alex shared a real example that made this crystal clear. He purchased a facility near Jacksonville that hadn’t raised rates since 2005. Think about that for a moment. That’s like owning a rental property and never adjusting rents for nearly two decades.
By simply bringing rents closer to market and adding basic fee income administrative fees, lock fees, gate access fees he was able to dramatically increase net operating income. Because commercial assets are valued using cap rates, even modest increases in income can add hundreds of thousands of dollars in value very quickly.
That’s power you don’t have in residential real estate.
The Market Reality Going Into 2026
Here’s the part I really appreciated: Alex didn’t sugarcoat the current market.
Self-storage deals aren’t as easy as they were in 2020 and 2021. Back then, you could review 20–30 deals and find something that worked. Today, it might take 100 to 120 opportunities to land the right one.
That doesn’t mean the opportunity is gone. It means investors have to be more selective, more conservative, and better at underwriting. This is true across real estate, not just storage.
Another key factor is ownership demographics. Roughly 60%+ of storage facilities in the U.S. are still owned by mom-and-pop operators, many in their 70s or 80s. A surprising number don’t even have websites, despite the majority of customers finding storage online. That creates opportunity for buyers who understand basic business optimization.
The Risks Most People Don’t Talk About
Every asset class has downsides, and storage is no exception.
Alex’s first facility was in a rough area of Jackson, Mississippi. Crime was high. Fences were cut regularly. Units were broken into. Repairs were constant. That experience reinforced a fundamental truth: location still matters.
In storage, buying in the wrong area can turn a low-headache business into a major stressor. Today, Alex focuses only on markets with strong demographics, population growth, solid median incomes, and undersupply.
That’s a lesson worth remembering: no asset class is immune to bad decisions.
Why Passive Investors Are Paying Attention
For passive investors, self-storage can be attractive for several reasons:
- Strong margins compared to apartments
- Multiple ways to participate (equity, debt, or hybrid structures)
- Less competition than multifamily syndications
- Operational simplicity when run correctly
Alex pointed out that in some deals, investors can act as both lenders and equity partners, creating more flexibility in how returns are generated.
As always, the key isn’t the asset it’s the operator, the structure, and alignment with your goals.
The Bigger Picture: The Ripple Effect
What stood out most to me wasn’t storage itself. It was Alex’s why.
He doesn’t do this just to acquire facilities. He does it to impact people through coaching, mentoring, and sharing what he’s learned. Storage is simply the vehicle that gives him the freedom and capacity to do that.
That aligns perfectly with what we talk about on the Money Ripples Podcast. Wealth isn’t just about accumulation. It’s about creating options, freedom, and the ability to serve others at a higher level.
Final Thoughts
So, is self-storage investing the right move going into 2026?
For the right investor, with the right expectations, the right team, and the right strategy it can be a powerful option. It’s not passive by default. It’s not risk-free. But it offers levers that many other asset classes don’t.
The real question isn’t whether storage is good or bad. The question is whether it fits your season, your goals, and your desired lifestyle.
Because at the end of the day, the best investment isn’t the one that looks good on paper. It’s the one that supports the life you actually want to live.