Joe DownsCEO & Co-Founder, Belrose Storage Group. Founder, Storage Moguls.

How sellers hide profits (and how to spot the add-backs) 💰

23 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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Joe Downs explains how sellers hide profits by adding back personal expenses like car payments, travel, and consulting fees to inflate NOI. Learn to spot these add-backs and adjust them to find the property's real profitability.

Chapters

So you look for things like personal auto or truck expenses, travel, meals. Keep an eye out for vague consulting fees that might be the owner paying themselves. When you find these, you get to add them back into the NOI, remove them as expenses, if you will, and they instantly increase the property's value for you, not the seller. This adjustment reveals the true profitability of the business, not the owner's personal spending. And understanding these helps you get a clearer picture of actual operational costs. So after lifestyle expenses, the next area to scrutinize is repairs and maintenance. This line item can be a real trap if you don't look closely.