In this episode, Josh Cantwell sits down with Scott Krone who's company Coda Management Group moved into storage units after seeing a  tremendous amount of volatility in the single family area of real estate and a cap rate on multi-family units in their area.

Scott and his company currently manage over 400,000 square feet of storage units across the Midwest, and they are actively looking for more warehouses to convert to self-storage and flex space.

Death, divorce, and down-sizing are three reasons people rely on self-storage. In addition, as people move to a more urban setting, they lose the garage, attic, or extra bedroom where they may have stored their extra stuff. And if they need to downsize for a while, as most people do during a recession, then a storage unit is a lot cheaper than renting a bigger apartment or house.

Using PACE funding, which stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy Act, Scott has been able to fund these projects in opportunity zones (OZ). This federal program has to be state adopted and implemented at the local level, but it’s designed to help buildings become more energy efficient. Instead of paying this back like a debt payment, it gets applied to your real estate taxes through a special assessment. There are huge and exciting benefits to utilizing the PACE funding on your properties.

Typically, Scott is looking to convert warehouses that are between 80-110,000 square feet, and he prefers warehouses in a growing urban market. If you’re interested in bird dogging a deal for him, he would love to connect with you.

Some key takeaways from the interview include:

• Some of the really cool tax benefits of PACE funding for properties.
• Why self-storage is an attractive addition to your real estate portfolio.
• The perfect kind of warehouse to convert into storage space.
• Scott’s current model for investors, and how long it takes to turn a profit.

Listen to the full interview and read the complete show notes here!

Listen to this episode as Whitney Sewell discusses converting distressed buildings into storage units with Scott Krone. What Scott does is converts distressed buildings into self-storage units, primarily in rural areas throughout the Midwest. In this episode, we discover that this niche is both environmentally friendly and profitable too.

By utilizing existing buildings, these projects decrease much of the waste that is synonymous with construction. There are also financial incentives for being involved in projects that lower the carbon footprints of buildings and increase their energy efficiency. Scott talks about how he ensures that his self-storage units will succeed by going into areas with heavy demand and very little supply. We also learn why self-storage is as close to a failsafe investment as is possible, some of the creative financing he uses to fund these projects, and much more. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to Scott and the work that his two firms are currently involved in.
• Why Scott works in the Midwest: it’s underserved and there are development incentives.
• Criteria Scott looks for in buildings: size, competition, and more.
• A ‘look green’ concept that underpins Scott’s self-storage conversion projects.
• How long a deal on these types of buildings usually takes to close.
• PACE Funding: the federal program that looks to reduce a building’s carbon footprints.
• What motivated Scott to pursue his niche.
• How the market is not the biggest hurdle in self-storage.
• The two biggest self-storage mistakes: not knowing your competition or your market.
• Creative ways of increasing investor returns: historic tax credit, opportunity zones, and PACE.
• The markets Scott is looking at buying in and how he locates properties.
• Challenges in Scott’s journey with real estate: getting people to believe in him.
• How Scott has used the Enneagram to improve his business recently.
• Why Scott understands investors well: he does the design, development, and the build.

Listen to the full interview and read the complete show notes here!

In this episode, Kevin Bupp sits down with self-storage expert Scott Krone. With a solid background in architecture, Scott co-founded Coda Management Group, an international award-winning design firm which specializes in sustainable building practices.

Kevin and Scott dive into self-storage real estate, which has been Scott’s more prominent venture. Scott shares a lot of valuable information about the factors and challenges concerning self-storage and how to identify building candidates for potential adaptive reuse. He also explains other aspects of the market such as financing and some market strategies.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• 5:55 Scott’s background in architecture and his first foray into self-storage
• 12:46 Scott talks about their business model and demographics to look out for
• 17:40 Other factors and challenges in converting buildings to self-storage
• 21:30 What is PACE financing?
• 24:02 More common forms of adaptive reuse of buildings
• 30:07 Scott shares his longterm strategy

Listen to the full interview and read the complete show notes here!