Store Here Self Storage

Director of Acquisitions

Avison Young

Commercial Real Estate Advisor

Colliers International

𝐑𝐇𝐖𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦 
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞.𝐜𝐨𝐦

I joined RHW Capital in 2019 as Director of Acquisitions. We operate Store Here Self Storage, a nationally recognized operator with roots in the industry dating back to the late 1980s and a track record across 130+ submarkets.

Before Store Here, I spent five years as a commercial real estate broker, completing dozens of office and retail sales and lease transactions throughout Los Angeles.

Today, we’re actively growing our portfolio through acquisitions and offering third-party management backed by decades of operational expertise.

Self-storage leaders: if you have teammates, invite them to follow me over the next few weeks.

I usually treat LinkedIn like Twitter—quick thoughts as they come.

Starting tomorrow at 8:00 AM PT, I’ll post a daily series of concise, self-storage due diligence nuggets: what we request, why it matters, and hard-won lessons from the field.

I’ll tag each post #armandssdd so they’re easy to find later.

Follow along and share with your team.

I don’t think you need to be in the self-storage sector to gain a lot of value from it.

Armand Aghadjanians

Purchasing $10M+ Self-Storage in Primary & Secondary Markets

If mortgage rates drop from 7% to 5%, monthly payments fall ~20%. That’s hundreds or thousands of dollars saved per month. 

Among the 200 largest housing markets, 80 metros already have active inventory above 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Prices are falling in many markets.

✅ pent-up demand, rising mobility
✅ rental rates turning positive
✅ fewer new projects
✅ deliveries slowing

I don’t care if it feels repetitive—we need the daily reminder: this is the bottom nationally.

Enjoy the weekend.

Edit for clarity: the post is written in the context of self-storage.

Self-Storage Acquisitions | 3PM | Consulting

There's probably a vacant Starbucks owner out there thinking about it... don't do it.

Headlines from the past 24 hours regarding mortgage rates 🙃 

AP: "Average rate on a 30-year mortgage falls again, 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫"

Mortgage News Daily: "Mortgage Rates 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐑 (𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫) 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐭"

CBS: "Mortgage interest rates 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 3-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐰."

Also, CBS: "Mortgage rates are at their 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. Here's when they could fall again."

Market Watch: "Why 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 after the Fed cut interest rates"

Fast Company: "Bank of America: 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐭 5.0% under these conditions"

MarketPlace: "Why the 𝐅𝐞𝐝'𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬"

$416.66/mo. of NOI isn't much.



x12 months = $5,000



at a 5% cap = $100,000 of value.



Every bit matters.

When I started in real estate over a decade ago, my mentor was a 35-year veteran, a former acquisitions executive, and the author of The Due Diligence Handbook For Commercial Real Estate. I was brought on as much for my marketing and digital background as brokerage. His book did well, with 500+ reviews for a niche subject.

Over time my role became multifaceted—underwriting, sourcing, operations—but due diligence is where I stand out. It requires communication with sellers, protecting investors, and solving problems quickly.

I also work with Ryan and Chris, who started in storage investments during the late 80s and 90s. Early on, their boss at one of the country’s largest investors sent them across the U.S. to manage sites. That ground-up training still shapes how we approach deals.

Today, our consulting clients aren’t beginners. They’re established investment groups that want us to run full unit-by-unit audits, lease audits, forensic accounting, and organize all docs.

Two takeaways from SSA:

1.	A broker told me our process was the most thorough they’d seen, but sellers liked working with us because we kept them informed. We’re friends with those particular sellers today.
	
2.	On another deal, someone joked when they saw I entered their Dropbox room for a deal they were selling: “What’s Armand going to find?” The truth is, we don’t kill deals—we build confidence.

What kills deals is lack of confidence. We’ve seen enough to resolve issues and keep deals alive.

If you’re an investment firm in storage and need DD support, let’s connect.

Beyond 3PM and the various consulting services we offer—I think this particular offering from our team is really unique and I’m proud of this service.

Here’s a glimpse into what I’m seeing in the transaction market:

(1) 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞-𝐔𝐩 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬

Last year, most Class-A lease-ups were asking $150+ PSF, some closer to $200. Pricing was often based on stale projected numbers—some justified, some not. Just in the past few days I’ve seen multiple Class-A deals in strong markets asking ~$135 PSF. That’s an interesting basis. 

Still some headwinds in the forecasts, but given where we’ve moved YoY and current replacement/land costs... has our attention.

(2) 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐬

Roughly a dozen portfolios have hit the market in the past few weeks—some institutional groups, others secondary/tertiary roll-ups from four years ago. Interesting to see many being segmented. 

Regarding the secondary/tertiary roll-ups, it feels like we’re only in the first or second inning of the disposition cycle. 

Thousands of sites traded or were built during that last wave, and timing aligns for a disposition cycle... interest rates, market rates, etc. etc.

Ultimately, I want to see healthy activity: sellers in the green, brokers earning fees, and more fluidity in the market. 

Doesn't mean everyone will be happy. Operational and broader market swings aren't some magical wand that makes issues disappear. But entering into 2025, there was some hope but no clear indication of things changing. It's reasonable to assume the stage is set for a different type of year in 2026.

Lawrence Yun (Chief Economist at NAR), said a few days ago:

“If mortgage rates further fall and remain near 6% for most of 2025 then home sales are forecasted to rise by 10% to 15%. 

How rare or common is double-digit rise in home sales in a single year. It is not common but after 3 years of super-low sales, it is primed to pop.

Our analysis of income distribution and how many additional households would meet income requirement with lower rates indicates that 13% gain home sales looks likely.”

I like that take. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Acquisition Criteria (Next 3-6 Months)

It’s an ever changing list. While it’s always tempting to keep things broad, being specific helps brokers. Sometimes investors understandably fear providing inactionable criteria, but heres our current preferences for the next few months:

▪️ $10M+ (flexible to $7M) — larger opportunities are ideal.
▪️ 50K SF minimum.
▪️ Non-REIT managed, unless it’s an active lease-up.
▪️ Open for 18+ months to ensure operating history.
▪️ Class A or B+ (paved drives, functional office, solid visibility).
▪️ CapEx shouldn’t exceed typical office and image upgrades.
▪️ Either 50K+ population within 3-mile or strong barriers to entry in an affluent submarket with limited supply.
▪️ $75K+ median HHI within 3-mile.
▪️ No flood zone complications.
▪️ Portfolios welcome, provided each site fits the above on its own merits.

Major markets within these states—
AL, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, IN, KS, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI.

⸻

The important kickers:

1️⃣ We like to see market street rates running ahead of in-place rents. Scenarior was virtually non-existent a year ago, but that’s quickly improving.

2️⃣ Limited nearby development. Ideally no new projects planned within a 3-mile radius (occasional, rare exceptions for strong fundamentals). This too is quickly improving.

⸻

The environment has shifted — higher street rates and slower development have opened the door for excellent assets that didn’t fit earlier this year. We’re actively finding and closing those opportunities now, though highly competitive.

Armand@StoreHere.com

Summer seasonality drives revenue growth in self-storage. 

The red line is just an example diagram. 

When school is out, young families move. That spike in housing activity lifts both home prices and mover rates, and it fills storage markets for a few critical months. Storage market rental rates increase during that window.

It’s also when operators raise existing customer rents. When the market is tight and competitors’ street rates are higher than your in-place rents, increasing rates while retaining occupancy becomes far easier. We have missed this for a few years.

Historically, first-time homebuyers made up 38% of the market. Recently, that number has dropped to 24%. The missing piece? Young families who couldn’t make the math work at current financing costs. Hence the absence of summer seasonality.

Even if mortgage rates are still around 6% by the end of next year, rather than 6.5% or 6.75%, a few Fed cuts between now and then will matter because it's a hurdle, even if just mental. "Waiting for rates to drop." 

Okay, well they cut rates, here we are, now what? Some buyers who were completely sidelined will start to re-enter. Purchase loan application rates are already curving up (see index below). Financing may not look much more attractive, but the utility is still increasing.

That missing cohort will reemerge. Time moves on. By next summer, so will storage’s seasonality—and the revenue lift that comes with it.

BTW, extra homework. I encourage you to look up the MBA Purchase Index from 2010-2016 and look up storage revenue performances. We don't need something crazy to happen to see solid gains.

I’m seeing plenty of newly built Class-A deals asking $125–$150 per square foot, often below replacement cost, that nobody can make pencil.

The hope was to sell around $170–$190 PSF. Today, many would take break-even if they could. 

However I’m underwriting a lot of these around $65–$100 PSF. And honestly, I’m not sure that even five years from now, those same sites will reach $125–$150 PSF. And I think this is very difficult for many to wrap their heads around.

If I believe my own underwriting — and I do — this is what the tea leaves say:

What’s hard for many to process is that this subset of deals — below replacement cost, underperforming, but not outright distressed — will likely 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 in volume 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴. Not just next year, but steadily over the next 5+.

We’re in a long, uneven recalibration. It’ll play out differently across markets, projects, and ownership structures. Mostly psychological at this point.

Too many owners still don’t have a clear sense of where their valuations actually stand, or how far they need to move just to see equity again.

Demand and performance are improving across many markets — I’m optimistic there, no doubt.

But we have to separate what we’re talking about:
– Macro trends or micro performance?
– Site operations?
– Investor opportunity?
What’s actually improving?

I’m bullish on the market and on opportunities — but that doesn’t mean much on a site-by-site basis.

Before committing more capital, test the market. Run a process with a storage broker. See where the offers come in and what those imply about future value. It’s often far more honest than an appraisal.

Take this simple example, imperfect, but directionally useful:

You built a 70,000 SF facility for $130 PSF ($9.1M). You put in $2.1M in equity, financed the rest. The highest bid comes back at $5M. That could imply the highest bid believes the site will be worth $7M in four years, meaning you might still not see your equity again even in four years.

Now you’re staring at a $500,000 capital call, maybe more. Is it worth it? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s worth testing the market first.

The toughest part is that most owners haven’t really mapped the path back — how far they need to go, what it takes to triple revenue, or whether that’s even realistic.

They’re brutal conversations to have — but they’re necessary. That’s the job, and the reality is that the capital being kicked in could be further loss as you ride out the next several years. 

We’ll very likely keep seeing well-below-replacement-cost deals hit the market through the end of the decade — properties that have been stuck at 70–80% occupancy for years on end.

Ask anyone who’s been around the sector for a couple of decades, and they’ll tell you: these cycles aren’t new. It’s not unusual for sites to take 7 to 10 years to truly stabilize, even in an upswing.

Below... a $10M offer, might imply $14M value in 4 years.

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