For a savvy self-storage investor, the thrill of an acquisition is in finding the hidden value—the untapped potential that can be unlocked to transform an average asset into a high-performing one. While you’re touring a property and running the numbers on the physical units, it’s easy to overlook one of the most significant sources of that hidden value: the facility’s technology.
An outdated, inefficient tech stack isn't a deal-breaker. In fact, for the right buyer, it's a massive green light. Each red flag in a target facility's digital operation represents a clear opportunity to inject modern systems, streamline workflows, and create a significant lift in NOI from day one. This guide provides a five-point audit to help you spot these opportunities and turn a seller’s operational drag into your competitive advantage.
The first thing you should audit is the facility’s website. If it looks like it was built a decade ago, is difficult to navigate on a smartphone, and functions as little more than a digital brochure with a phone number, you’ve found your first major opportunity. In today’s market, a facility’s website is its primary sales channel. A clunky, slow-loading site is actively turning away modern tenants who expect to rent online with a few clicks.
The Problem: Poor digital curb appeal, a frustrating user experience, and a near-zero chance of converting online lookers into paying tenants.
The Opportunity: A modern, high-performance website is one of the fastest ways to boost revenue. By improving the user experience and providing a frictionless online rental process, you can immediately start winning the profitable, long-term tenants the previous owner couldn't capture.
What to Check: Can you easily find unit availability, pricing, and complete a full rental on your smartphone in under two minutes? If not, it’s a red flag.
When a tenant’s only choice is to call during business hours or show up in person to rent a unit or pay a bill, the entire operation is stuck in the past. This old-school reliance on manual processes doesn't just fall short of modern customer expectations—it burns through payroll hours on repetitive tasks that can be fully automated.
The Problem: Your sales are limited to office hours, your operational costs are inflated, and the customer experience feels inconvenient.
The Opportunity: A platform with a fully integrated online rental system and tenant portal fundamentally changes your manager's job description. It turns them from a part-time collections agent into a full-time leasing professional by automating routine payments and administrative work, freeing them to focus on high-value activities.
The Litmus Test: Does the facility have a tenant portal for managing accounts online? Can someone become a paying tenant at 10 PM on a Tuesday without speaking to anyone?
Get a copy of the facility’s P&L and zoom in on the ancillary revenue lines, especially tenant protection. If you see a low penetration rate, it's a clear sign that a high-margin income stream is being neglected. This is often caused by a cumbersome, manual sign-up process that managers and tenants alike tend to avoid.
The Problem: A major, high-margin revenue stream is being left on the table, resulting in a lower NOI and overall asset valuation.
The Opportunity: Implementing a tenant protection plan with a high revenue share for the operator is a direct path to higher profits. Look for systems with automated enrollment features, which can significantly increase penetration rates with minimal effort from your site managers.
What to Check: Ask for the current tenant protection penetration rate and the revenue share they receive. A low number in either column is a clear red flag.
The previous owner was likely operating without a clear picture of how their online presence was affecting business. Search for the facility on Google. A weak search ranking and a handful of old, unanswered reviews are symptoms of a much bigger problem: a complete disconnect between their reputation and their revenue.
The Problem: The business is practically invisible to potential customers searching online, and a lackluster reputation fails to convert those who do find it.
The Opportunity: A focused strategy on reputation management and SEO can quickly reverse this. This is where the power of community comes in; leveraging the credibility of a recognized brand or cooperative can provide an immediate authority boost, helping you build trust with prospective tenants faster.
The Quick Audit: Google the facility’s name plus its city. Analyze their search position and review score against the top three local competitors.
Ask the current owner for a list of their technology vendors. If they start naming different companies for their PMS, website, payment processing, and call tracking, you've uncovered a classic case of operational drag. This "patchwork" of vendors creates data chaos, prevents you from getting a single, clear view of your business, and often means you're paying a "small guy tax" with higher rates on every service.
The Problem: Your team is drowning in manual data reconciliation, you can't make decisions from a single source of truth, and you're paying more than you should be.
The Opportunity: The solution is to consolidate into a single, integrated platform. This approach delivers immediate efficiency gains and often provides access to better rates on essential services through group buying power, a key benefit of a cooperative model.
The Simple Question: Ask for their list of tech vendors.
In the world of self-storage acquisitions, these red flags aren't warnings to back away. They are a strategic roadmap. Each one points to a specific area where modern technology and best practices can be implemented to quickly and efficiently boost revenue, cut costs, and build a more valuable, modern asset.
Recognizing these red flags is the first step. Acting on them quickly and efficiently is what creates value. The Storelocal Storage Brand Program is the industry's premier "Ops-in-a-Box" solution, designed to be a turnkey turnaround plan for an underperforming acquisition. Instead of spending months sourcing individual vendors and managing a complex integration, our offering provides a single, cost-effective solution, from a high-performance website on a national domain to a fully integrated PMS with best-in-class rates on payment processing. It's the fastest and most efficient way to turn a new facility's weaknesses into your portfolio's strengths.