In this recent series of posts, I’ve been outlining for you how I generate independent income using excellent growth investments, such as tax liens, renting out Wall Street shares and using a tremendous bank strategy. In this post I’ll explore the benefits of building or buying storage units, and investing in cellphone towers.
Storage Units
Building or buying storage units is another excellent way to leverage real estate to generate cash flow. You receive cash flow from rent, and if tenants don’t pay you can auction their stuff and evict them. Storage units require a lot of money up front, but it’s hard to beat the cash flow you can get from them. Recessions also create more demand for storage units. People unfortunately lose their homes and require storage unit capacity to store their belongings.
If you’re considering investing in storage units, consider these important points:
Geography: Make sure you’re not building or buying in an area where there’s an over-supply of self-storage options. Location: Are there competitors nearby? Does the location have good visibility?
Management: With storage units, you’re not just buying a piece of real estate. You’re buying a business that needs to be managed properly. As Aaron Swerdlin, executive managing director of the Self Storage Group at commercial real estate firm NGKF Capital Markets, says, “You can’t just stick a manager in the office eight hours a day and have them answer phones. It’s a higher level of involvement than most people assume.” Make sure you hire the right staff and give them adequate training and systems.
Maintenance: If you’re buying existing units, inspect them for maintenance issues like leaky roofs or mold. Make sure you provide proper maintenance to keep the facility in good working order and attractive to customers.
Cell Phone Towers
Cellphone towers are the backbone for cellular, wireless, radio, television, microwave, and other radio networks and are used by wireless carriers, governmental agencies, broadband data providers, and other mobile technology companies.
The rapid growth of smartphones and other devices has generated an enormous increase in wireless data consumption. The number of wireless subscriber connections in the U.S. now exceeds the total U.S. population. Carriers are under constant demand to enhance network capacity, quality, and coverage.
Wireless carriers own just a small percentage of cellphone tower sites, and they lease the rest from other owners. For example, farmers can lease acreage for a carrier to build a tower. The carriers pay well to lease these sites.
If you own elevated land that’s suitable for a tower lease, you may be able to work a deal with a carrier. If you don’t own land, you can look around and find a piece of property suitable for a tower. Or, it may be possible to buy out the cell tower lease from a property owner. There are also investment companies that facilitate investing in cell phone towers.
The above examples are just a small sampling of available alternative growth investments. My point isn’t to give you an exhaustive list, but rather to teach you to think outside the box. Do your homework. Look around and you’ll see a world of opportunity outside of what you’re taught by Suze Orman and Money magazine.
In my next post, I look at how you go about building real estate cash flow for your 5 Day Weekend.
I’d love to hear from you. Have you considered other ideas for investment, beyond what I’ve suggested to you in this and in previous posts? What would they involve? Thank you for sharing!
Secure your copy of the “5 Day Weekend” book. 5 Day Weekend: Freedom to Make Your Life and Work Rich with Purpose [Nik Halik & Garrett Gunderson]
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