As exciting as property investing is, it’s certainly never a sure thing. Projects go over budget, markets slow down, and renters can be nightmares to work with. For those reasons, many accredited investors are moving their capital into self-storage investments.
For investment manager and influencer Travis Baucom, Founder of Balcomie Capital, the move to self-storage investment was a logical progression.
“People focus too much on buying houses as an investment,” said Baucom. “Focusing on self-storage has presented more returns on the dollar and commercial real estate has proven way more profitable for our investors.”
Balcomie Capital’s Founder boasts a notable investment track record. As the former CEO of Texas’s largest privately-owned distressed house-buying firm, Texas Trust Home Buyers, where he led the company in buying over $50 million in homes successfully for years. He has since stepped down and is now focusing all of his efforts on buying self-storage investments.
Baucom has spent the last several years helping new and seasoned investors enter and navigate lucrative investments across the self-storage space. He has become one of the industry’s most recognized figures and thought leaders in this segment of investing.
Deeming self-storage investing as a smart move for those looking to diversify their real estate portfolio, Baucom believes the space to be promising in increasing returns on investments.
Below are the most valuable pieces of advice he has for those hoping to transition from property investments to self-storage — and each tip comes from his own hard-earned experience.
Learn About the Market
Learning about the self-storage market — or any market you hope to invest in — is key to finding success. “The first thing to do is a deep dive into the market’s history to learn how it has performed in the past,” said Baucom. “When you learn how self-storage investments retain resilience in the face of changing market conditions, you’ll begin to understand why this investment space is so hot right now.”
If solo research isn’t your thing, you can also learn about the market by taking a course or investing with someone who knows the market well and learn from them.
Explore the Risk Involved
Since becoming a viable investment opportunity 15 years ago, self-storage has proven to be a low-risk investment that has outperformed other commercial real estate investments. Baucom pointed out that this was particularly true when the country suffered through the great recession in 2008. Self-storage investments remained one of the few bright spots in investors’ portfolios and provided a reliable, passive income that outperformed other stock and property investments.
“The high profitability of self-storage units has made them a popular choice among investors seeking tax-advantaged investments that can generate long-term revenue,” said Baucom.
Have Your Finances in Order
One aspect of embarking on your self-storage investing journey is that it requires more available capital than buying residential properties. By definition, self-storage facilities are larger than houses, so they are much more expensive, But they also reap much higher profits than houses due to how commercial properties are sold..
If you aren’t sitting on millions of dollars to purchase, build, or renovate a self-storage facility, it’s not the end of the road for this dream. Baucom suggests partnering with skilled operators like his firm.
Build Peer Relationships
Building relationships with other investors in the self-storage space can be a great way to learn about new opportunities and find potential partners for future projects. Not only will developing a strong group of like-minded peers be important to learning, growing and long-term success, they can also become like colleagues and act as people that you celebrate wins with and strategize fresh ideas and plans with.
Using these tips, you’ll be sure to get started on the right foot in your self-storage investment journey.
About Travis Baucom
Travis Baucom, Founder of Balcomie Capital, is a seasoned asset investor with over 10 years of real estate investing experience, with a consistent return that has yearly outperformed the market over the past decade. Balcomie Capital is a boutique firm for high-net-worth and high-income professionals. Its mission is to deliver fully-managed, private investments that allow investors to pursue what matters most to them, offering unprecedented access to income-producing private investments to help build a legacy and future for the next generation.To invest with Balcomie Capital, please visit: https://balcomiecapital.com
