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

Repairs & Maintenance Red Flags That Can Kill a Self-Storage Deal

25 Jan 2026 · 0 min

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Low repairs and maintenance expenses can hide deferred maintenance costs you'll inherit, while high expenses might mean the seller is hiding major repairs in operating costs. Check 12 to 24 months of R&M history for consistency and investigate any spikes or dips before buying.

Sometimes the numbers are suspiciously low. This could signal deferred maintenance maybe that you'll have to pay for later. Other times they're too high, and this might mean the seller is fixing major issues that probably should be capitalized if they have nothing to do with the operation of the facility on a month-to-month basis. What you want to see is consistency of expenses over the last 12 to 24 months. Those are going to be your true operational costs. Any big spikes or dips are a red flag that you need to investigate further.