126: Self Storage as Syndicated Equities with Fernando Angelucci

The traditional role of a landlord isn’t for everyone—even those who want to become real estate investors. If you don’t want to deal with tenants in a traditional rental property, self-storage could be the perfect option.

On this episode of Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing, Jonathan interviews Fernando Angelucci, CEO of Self Storage Syndicated Equities. Fernando began his real estate investing career in residential, quickly realized it wasn’t a fit, moved into multifamily, and ultimately transitioned into self-storage. Today, Fernando is working toward building a billion-dollar company and is sharing the many benefits of a self-storage career.

As they kick off their conversation, Jonathan and Fernando explore his early foray into real estate investing, why residential wasn’t a great fit, and how he was introduced to self-storage. Fernando shares his initial mistakes, including maxing out credit cards, what he learned from his early investments, and the central tenets he uses to guide his investing strategy. You’ll hear the benefits of self-storage operations, how he decides where and what kind of facilities to build or buy, and the foundation big box retailers lay for him before he lands in a location. Finally, Fernando and Jonathan discuss the importance of marketing in this asset class and why rubbing shoulders with bigger fish in the self-storage game can lead to lucrative relationships.

Real estate doesn't have to revolve around tenants, and Fernando Angelucci has mastered this asset class that continues to produce bountiful returns.

In this episode, you will hear:

The impact “Rich Dad Poor Dad” had on Fernando Angelucci at 16 years old
His first entrepreneurial venture painting the exteriors of residential buildings at 19, and what he learned from that experience
The appeal of time freedom and why a business or investment vehicle can provide that
Mistakes Fernando made as he started his real estate business, including maxing out credit cards and losing $30,000 within a couple of months
The first property he invested in, the difficulty he had reselling it, and what he learned
Dealing with tenants as a landlord and then eventually pivoting to self-storage, which was a great fit for Fernando
His landmark principles surrounding self-storage
Three reasons Fernando loves self-storage
Fernando Angelucci’s unique approach to the storage business and the importance of marketing in growing the business
The three-and-a-half strategies he uses to invest in self-storage
Letting big box retail like McDonald’s and Walmart assist in deciding where to build self-storage facilities
Saving money on construction by buying buildings like old Sears buildings and converting them to storage
Why you never want 100% occupancy in storage facilities
The role of technology in these facilities and why Fernando hasn’t jumped on that bandwagon yet
The top three things he looks for in a facility to scale and sell
Benefits of a restrictive buy box and why Fernando’s is so restrictive
Creating a package to present to REITs and building relationships that lead to deals

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If you enjoyed this episode, we've created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from the episode. Just go to the episode page at http://www.trustgreene.com/podcast/zen/126 to download it.