Sergio Altomare didn’t start out investing in self storage. He made a massive leap, making lots of mistakes along the way until he found this gold mine of an asset class. For years, Sergio was buying small multifamily properties, one of them being a “monster house” which he later had to sell due to some serious zoning issues. Once he was introduced to syndications, he knew he could take his portfolio higher, without the headaches of large multifamily.

Now, Sergio has twelve self storage facilities, with a combined valuation of close to $40M. He’s been able to increase his equity by many, many millions with simple value-add strategies like increasing rent, paving parking lots, and installing key-accessible gates for his customers. This isn’t the regular value-add you’re used to with granite countertops and freshly tiled showers; self storage value-add can be minimal with massive results.

Sergio also dives into his long-term exit plans—something every investor should be thinking about. Are you planning on selling your properties one by one to the highest bidder, or will you package them up and walk away with a huge payday?