Joe Downs shows how to use Google Maps satellite view to spot self-storage market problems. Look for a sea of white roofs (five-plus facilities in one mile), dead zones with no homes nearby, and hidden giants that flood supply. Read 1-star reviews to find the three laziest competitors, then position yourself as the better fourth option.
Chapters
Welcome to day 22 of the Storage 100. I am Joe Downs with the Storage Mastermind, and today we're talking about the 15-minute audit that reveals everything you need to know about a market. This is the Google Maps competition analysis, if you will. You don't need expensive software or $5,000 report to know if the market's worth your time. The secret to finding a great deal is understanding the competition better than they understand themselves. We're going to use a free tool that you already have, um, probably open on your computer right now. And it's a simple audit, uh, and it's going to instantly tell you if a market is a gold mine or a graveyard. And again, this is the fastest way to disqualify 90% of the bad deals out there. So let's dive into the 3 biggest warning signs that should make you slam on the brakes. So now that you understand the power of the 15-minute audit, let's talk about the markets you must avoid. And the obvious red flags that come with them. So some markets look fantastic on paper. Others are actually war zones designed to crush you. And when you see these, you want to run away as fast as you can. So the first red flag is the sea of white roofs. If you zoom out and you see 5 other facilities within a 1-mile radius, you are probably entering a price war zone and you can't compete on price. That's a losing game. At least you don't want to be competing on price unless you're a REIT, and even they don't want to compete on price. The second flag is the dead zone. So if you see industrial parks with zero rooftops, meaning from homes nearby, then you don't have any customers, right? Storage needs people. No houses means no demand. The third red flag is one of the hidden giants, and that's looking for the massive multi-story building that might be disguised as an office park. That's those like 100,000 square foot, beautiful CubeSmart looking, or it could be a CubeSmart, but it's a massive supply bomb, right? If you see any of these, keep scrolling, find a new market. You're going to want to find a market where the competition is lazy, not where they're ruthless. The REITs, if they're doing their job, and they do, have to be ruthless. So What do you do once you find a market with these red flags? Well, this is where you're going to use your 15-minute audit. First, open Google Maps and search self-storage near me in your target area. Make sure you're in the satellite view because you want to see the actual rooftops. Then start counting your competitors. If you see more than 3 facilities within a 3-mile radius, you want to proceed with extreme caution. That's probably where you're going to want to go in and measure with the rooftops. You can do that in Google. You're looking for scarcity, not saturation. Also, check the reviews. Read the 1-star reviews of every competitor. This is your marketing plan, right? So if you see things like gate broken, rat infestation, I don't know, rude manager, these are the cracks in the armor that will— that you're going to want to exploit. Your job is to find the 3 laziest competitors in the market and then be the 4th best. So This is how you win, right? So the simple audit gives you the blueprint for your marketing and operations plan. Now, before we wrap up, I want to make sure you are all set up for tomorrow. So join us for day 23, where we're going to talk about the demographics that predict success. This is one of the final steps. It's the most— it's not the most, but it's an important step in the community. So if you love free tools that work better than the paid ones, hit the like button right now, or Hit like if you've ever spent 4 hours on Google Maps and called it work. If you wanna learn how to do, uh, this 20-minute audit in 15 minutes, you need to subscribe. Don't miss the episode drops and the live sessions. And finally, share this with your friend who just bought a $500 market report, or share it with the person who thinks market research means asking their neighbor. They will thank you later.
