Transition of Ownership

By Mike Wagner with The Storage Rebellion

The ownership transition actually begins long before closing. In a perfect world, you will be able to gain “access” or even better, “control” of the facility (primarily the management software and phone line) 7-10 days before closing. Doing so will allow you to start migrating to the automated remote management systems that I will teach you about in the coming chapters. The chapters that follow are the nuts and bolts of what makes my investing strategy so successful. Before we dive to deep into that though, I do want to talk about all of the things that you should be doing BEFORE closing so that you can hit the ground running on day 1. These are the things that I used to reverse 4 years of neglect at my most recent project in only 4 days. Allow me to digress into an example as I think it will help me paint this picture better than simply creating a “To-Do” list for you. In April of 2018, I bought a 24,000 square foot facility in Florida, about 1100 miles from my house. As you may or may not know, I had two young kids at home (now I have 3!) and so my goal is to be away from them as little as possible. As such, I set my purchase trip to last for just 4 days. And this facility had been mismanaged for at least 4 years so this was not going to be an easy task. Now, I think sharing what follows is a bit “in the weeds” for this stage of the game, I thought you might find it valuable to see the actual “To Do” list that I created in anticipation of the Full Throttle Operational Overhaul that I will outline for you next time. Please don't let the following list overwhelm you as it looks more cumbersome than it really is. I share it only because I think there is value in seeing the “big elephant” broken down into digestible chunks.

Bronson Self Storage – Closing Date: April 16th, 2018

• Scan and send all signed docs to Woods Oviatt (attorney)

Before Closing: (April 1 – April 14)

• Sales Tax – Await Certificate
• Get NYS LLC Cert. Of Good Standing
• File Foreign LLC Paperwork in Florida
• File Fictitious Name Transfer
• Bank of Castile – DBA after its filed.
• Create New QB company with Mike's SW Card and B of C Savings
• Transfer Phone
• Name of phone provider: ATT
• Phone number: 800-298-5555
• Account Number: 1593XXXX87
• Account PIN/Password: XXX
• Account billing address
• Bronson Self Storage, 500 Commerce St., Bronson, FL 32621

Shopping List:

• Makita Lock Cutting Saw and blades, Drill and Circular Saw
• Drill Bits
• Push Broom
• 2 Locksets
• Cheap padlocks/overlocks
• Pressure Treated 2 x 4's
• Screws/Washers
• Metal twine to tie signs to fence
• Contractor Bags
• Cleaning Supplies
• Air mattress and pillow/sheets

Saturday: Arrive around Noon

• Home Depot/Walmart in Gainesville for above
• Change Office Lock
• Inventory all Units and create Master Lock Audit Template → Set up all ESS
• Cut and re-lock or Trash out all Abandoned Units (photo of any abandoned)
• Prepare Change of Ownership Letter in EasyStorageSoftware (ESS)
• Prepare Late Letters and Auction Letters in ESS
• Sleep in Office
• Gainesville Craigslist for day labor?
• Dumpster delivered in afternoon 352-353-0839: Do I need another?

Sunday:

• Daryl DLB Landscaping 352-555-0099
• How far does he live?
• Maintain Grounds and ask for 1 lock cut per month (as needed) and 2 lock audits
• Powerwash
• Trash out and Clean Doublewide
• Mail Change of Ownership Letters
• Change Locks on Double wide

Monday:

• Fix Skirting on doublewide.
• ATT between 8 and 12 (Rich not to cancel until phone ports)
• Email or Call Kelly to bind insurance
• Pick up signs at 9 am?
• Hang Signs and Remove Drop Box
• Change over Utilities, Internet, Water
• Greg from Gate and Camera between 2 and 4 (386-555-2329)
• Call town hall to schedule with Building Dept.
• Activate Sparefoot
• Create Google Adwords – separate account

Tuesday: – Take Good Pictures for Website including buildings, gate, cameras and signs

• Electric Changeover:
• Take photos of both meters with reading and meter number
• Bring warranty Deed or Settlement Statement and Driver's License to:
• 11491 NW 50th Ave, Cheifland FL, 32626 (352-555-2511)
• Make sure they have po box as mailing list
• Online account and autopay to SW card
• Gainesville Craigslist for storage ad
• Call all Delinquents (Cash or after ESS payments are active?)
• Friendly Late Letters to anyone under 30 days late
• Auction Letters to anyone over 30 days.

Wednesday: Flight bright and early

I hope this article has been helpful for you and invite you to dive a bit deeper by exploring some of the FREE content we put out into the world. To do so, simply visit www.thestoragerebellion.com or our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/StorageRebellion/ . I wish you all the best on your Journey into the world of Self Storage.

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