The independent operator's handbook.
Know storage.Go further.
Plain, sourced guides for people who start, buy and run independent self storage facilities. Every figure links to where it came from.
Where are you headed?
Four chapters, from the first idea to the numbers behind the business. Pick the one that matches your next decision.
Start or buy
From the first idea to the first facility. Guides for people who do not own a facility yet: feasibility studies, zoning, financing, building costs, unit mix and buying an existing site.
10 guidesExploreLegal & operations
Understand the rules. Protect your operation. The legal side of running self storage: lien laws by state, rental agreement clauses, delinquent tenants, auctions and tenant protection plans.
6 guidesExploreRun it well
Practical decisions for better-performing facilities. Day-to-day operations for independent self storage facilities: the opening checklist, rental rates, staffing and security, from opening day onward.
4 guidesExploreIndustry data
The numbers behind the business. Self storage industry statistics, occupancy explained, a glossary of operator terms and an events calendar, with every number linked to its source.
4 guidesExploreYour next move starts here.
New to the business? Read these in order. Each one builds on the last.
01 · Start here
How to Start a Self Storage Business: Step by Step
The steps to start an independent self storage business: choosing a path, market research, site, structure, financing, operations and lease-up.
- 02
Is Self Storage a Good Investment? How Facilities Earn and Where the Risks Are
Is self storage a good investment? How storage facilities earn money, the main risks, and what the big REITs reported in their fiscal 2025 10-K filings.
- 03
Self storage feasibility study: what it covers
What a self storage feasibility study covers, who prepares one, and how to test its trade area, supply, rate and lease-up assumptions.
- 04
Cost to Build a Self Storage Facility: What Goes Into the Budget
The cost categories in a self storage construction budget, from land and site work to doors, soft costs and contingency, with a worked example.
- 05
Buying a Self Storage Facility: Due Diligence, Valuation and Takeover
How to buy an existing self storage facility: due diligence, checking the rent roll, valuing the income, financing the purchase and taking over.
50 states.
50 sets of rules.
Self storage lien law is state law. Pick a state to jump to its row in the lien table: statute, notice, advertising and waiting period.
- ALAlabama
- AKAlaska
- AZArizona
- ARArkansas
- CACalifornia
- COColorado
- CTConnecticut
- DEDelaware
- FLFlorida
- GAGeorgia
- HIHawaii
- IDIdaho
- ILIllinois
- INIndiana
- IAIowa
- KSKansas
- KYKentucky
- LALouisiana
- MEMaine
- MDMaryland
- MAMassachusetts
- MIMichigan
- MNMinnesota
- MSMississippi
- MOMissouri
- MTMontana
- NENebraska
- NVNevada
- NHNew Hampshire
- NJNew Jersey
- NMNew Mexico
- NYNew York
- NCNorth Carolina
- NDNorth Dakota
- OHOhio
- OKOklahoma
- OROregon
- PAPennsylvania
- RIRhode Island
- SCSouth Carolina
- SDSouth Dakota
- TNTennessee
- TXTexas
- UTUtah
- VTVermont
- VAVirginia
- WAWashington
- WVWest Virginia
- WIWisconsin
- WYWyoming
Summarized from statuteNot yet summarized: read the statute
This is a summary for orientation, not legal advice. Statutes change. Confirm the current text and talk to a local attorney before you deny access, advertise or hold a sale.
Less guesswork.
Better decisions.
A few numbers worth knowing, each from a public filing or federal survey. Each one links to its source and to the guide that explains it.
U.S. Census Bureau · 2022 Economic Census · NAICS 531130
The industry, counted
18,465establishments
$20.6Brevenue, approximately
47,642employees
Largest owner · same-store pool
Occupancy is easing
Scale starts at 90% so the change is visible.
Source: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K · Read the statistics guide
Largest owner · rent per sq ft
New tenants pay less
Move-insMove-outs
Source: Public Storage 2024 Form 10-K · Read the statistics guide
Big decisions.
No corporate playbook required.
The large operators have analysts and counsel on staff. These guides are written so an independent owner can make the same decisions with the same facts.
Every figure is sourced
Numbers link to the filing, statute or survey they came from. If we cannot source it, we leave it out.
Rules by state, not by guess
Lien laws are read from the statute text, dated, and marked where a state is not yet summarized.
Written for independents
For people starting, buying or running one to ten facilities, not for REIT analysts.
Nothing to sell you
Guides do not recommend products. Links to the publisher's sites are marked nofollow.
The library
Every guide, by chapter. Reference pages are marked.
01Start or buy
- How to Start a Self Storage Business: Step by Step
- Self Storage Business Plan: A Template Lenders and Partners Can Use
- Is Self Storage a Good Investment? How Facilities Earn and Where the Risks Are
- Self storage feasibility study: what it covers
- Cost to Build a Self Storage Facility: What Goes Into the Budget
- Buying a Self Storage Facility: Due Diligence, Valuation and Takeover
- Self storage zoning: what to check before you buy land
- Financing for Self Storage Facilities: SBA, Construction and Bridge Loans
- Converting an existing building to self storage
- Planning a self storage unit mix
02Legal & operations
03Run it well
Make the next move
a smart one.
Start with the chapter that matches your next decision, and check every number against its source.