Why Smart Investors Are Going All In on RV Storage

What if you could invest in storage with 20-to-1 demand advantage, higher revenue per square foot, and almost zero REIT competition…but 95% of investors don't even know it exists? 

Joe Downs reveals the explosive boat and RV storage opportunity that's hiding in plain sight, with expert Sydnie Wilda from The Storage Manager exposing exactly why this overlooked sector could be your most profitable move in 2026. 

From the shocking supply-demand imbalance (600,000 new boats and RVs delivered annually vs. only 25,000-30,000 new parking spots) to the operational secrets that separate winners from amateurs, this episode delivers the blueprint for capitalizing on America's outdoor recreation boom before the big players wake up.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

3:19 What makes boat and RV tenants completely different from traditional storage customers?

12:18 Why is a 60-foot drive aisle the difference between profit and disaster?

18:30 How do you "idiot-proof" your facility design to prevent fence demolition?

24:31 What is the "peak-end experience" and why does it multiply your tenant retention?

27:53 Should you build a boat and RV facility on your vacant land?

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SYDNIE WILDA, OPERATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST | SSA YOUNG LEADERS GROUP SENATOR | MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE LEADER

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Chapters

• 3:19 What makes boat and RV tenants completely different from traditional storage customers?
• 12:18 Why is a 60-foot drive aisle the difference between profit and disaster?
• 18:30 How do you "idiot-proof" your facility design to prevent fence demolition?
• 24:31 What is the "peak-end experience" and why does it multiply your tenant retention?
• 27:53 Should you build a boat and RV facility on your vacant land?

Transcript

Announcer (00:03):

This is the self Storage Podcast with the original self-storage expert, Scott Meyers.

Joe Downs (00:12):

What if I told you there's a segment of the storage industry with higher revenue per square foot, lower tenant turnover, and almost zero competition from the REITs? And most investors have never even considered it. I'm Joe Downs. Welcome to the Self-Storage Podcast. With me today to talk about this hidden opportunity is Sydnie Wilda from the Storage Manager. And we're going to get to you in one second, Sydnie, but I got to paint the picture for everybody here, why I brought you on. So what's happening, and the picture I want to paint is what's happening in the boat and RV storage space and why smart investors are paying attention. There's a demand tsunami taking place. There's over 13 million registered boats in the United States and RV ownership hit record highs post- COVID. And here's the number that should stop everyone in their tracks. Approximately 600,000 brand new boats and RVs are delivered to consumers every single year.

(01:08):

And that's averaged around 500,000 going back 20 years. So it's been on the rise in the last 10 years to 600,000. Meanwhile, the industry only adds about 25 to 25,000 to 30,000, excuse me, new parking spots every year. So do that math. There's a 20 to one demand to supply imbalance, and it's been compounding for two decades. By the way, folks, I'm only talking about boats and RVs. I haven't even discussed anything else that you put on a trailer like ATVs or jet skis. These stats are just boats and RVs. The REITs have largely stayed out of this space. It's harder to scale, more operationally intensive, and doesn't fit their cookie cutter model. For us, that means less competition and more opportunity to build real equity. And when you look at the economics, higher rent per unit than traditional storage, longer lease terms, stickier tenant.

(02:07):

People don't move their 35 foot RV on a whim. And here's a bonus. Municipalities across the country are increasingly banning outdoor storage and driveways and side yards. Every new ordinance is a gift to the boat and RV operators. Now, as incredible as these facts and figures are, there's a catch. It's not passive. You can't just throw up some gravel and a fence and call it a day. This is where operators separate from speculators. And that's exactly why I wanted to bring in someone who actually manages these facilities day to day because the real opportunity is in the execution and the execution is everything. So welcome, Sydnie. Thanks for being on the show.

Sydnie Wilda (02:50):

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Joe Downs (02:53):

Awesome. All right. So you just heard my intro and I know you love boat and RVs and managing them and you might actually even like using them. I don't know. You can tell us about that. And you manage several facilities, but for the listener who only knows traditional self-storage, since this is a traditional self-storage podcast, what's the first thing that surprises them or should surprise them about boat and RV? Storage.

Sydnie Wilda (03:19):

Well, Joe, I mean, outside of the obvious, the first thing that should surprise people is the mindset of these individuals. This isn't just foxes that they're putting away. This isn't stuff that they just can't fit in their house, their Christmas decorations. This is something they're using on the weekends, all fall to go hunting with their family, going out on the lake, traveling the country, making memories and having experiences. We're not just talking about stuff. We're talking about things that actually impact someone's life. This is taking their grandson fishing for the first time. This is a road trip across the country with their young family to explore the national parks. So the mindset of these tenants is a lot bigger and they expect a lot better of an experience given what we are holding for them.

Joe Downs (04:12):

That is such a fantastic point to open up this podcast with. Wow. You got more in the tank because I might've closed with that one.

Sydnie Wilda (04:21):

I mean, I can keep going. These clients are just so different.

Joe Downs (04:25):

You really just highlighted something. And I got to tell you, I don't think I have thought about this myself to the depth that you just took it. It's certainly with the personal experiences. But even if I go shallower than that, traditional self-storage is very ... Unless you're using it as a business or you're a hobbyist and you're there all the time, you're right. It's a very disengaging event. You drop something there and some people don't come back for a year. Some people, maybe it's every few months, maybe they're using it seasonally for decorations or something, but it's really not on their mind a lot. But the boat and the RV user is definitely more engaged. I mean, I guess it depends on how much they use it, but I would think when you own really expensive toys like that, for the most part, you're probably using them more than, let's say someone's visiting a storage facility, which means by default, you're visiting the storage facility a lot more because that's where you're storing it.

(05:27):

But then you took it to another level, which is really interesting. And that's that what they're storing is a memory maker and an experience maker.

(05:43):

You're right. That's a different mindset. And then they even have just in a different ... They have a different relationship with that storage facility is what I just heard from you. Yes. It's not a place that's measured by some distance away where hopefully securely and safely stuff you either care about or don't is stored. It's where it's more like a habitual use. I mean, the habit can be different, I guess, but it's more of a woven into the fabric of your life is I guess what I'm trying to say.

Sydnie Wilda (06:20):

Yeah. And I think as a country too, we've seen a lot of shifts, whether that's away from commercialism and the stuff to those experiences. And I think that's where people are still seeing value, especially in a post- COVID era. During COVID, I mean, boats and RVs just boomed. No one can deny that. Everyone saw it. Everyone was going out. They were doing things. People were out of office. They were traveling. They were having those experiences and eventually all good things have to end. So they needed a place to put them to settle down for storage, HOA wouldn't allow whatever it may be, but they still wanted to hold onto that because they still wanted to use it in their spare time, part-time, whatever it may be. But now we're seeing people have them because, "Hey, we want to keep this going. We want to be able to go out and do this with our family.

(07:13):

Hey, I want to go camping every weekend at the lake and wake up to that instead of wake up to just my normal neighborhood."

Joe Downs (07:22):

Yeah. Another good point, and I'm going to take your point and twist it a little bit. The stats would actually argue ... I was generous in my stats in the opening. I think the numbers are actually higher from some of the other sources I've seen, but I went with the more conservative numbers. But what the trends will show you is the usage, at least from a brand new vehicle delivered to consumer standpoint, those numbers have been increasing year over year. Now it's spiked during COVID. And then obviously right after COVID, it took a little bit of a dip from the linear growth pattern it was on, but it's right back to where it was and where it was going to be. But the twist I want to make on your point is, yes, you saw that incredible usage during COVID, but what COVID did was re-expose or for the first time expose people to more of the outdoor life.You saw this in golf even.

(08:27):

Golf club memberships just boom during COVID. As soon as you could do anything outside again, people wanted to be outside because they were tired of being cramped up in their houses and/or if they lived in the city in even smaller housing or apartments.

Sydnie Wilda (08:44):

Go ahead. The shift into the fact that this is a very relational area. People want relationships with this. People are talking at campgrounds. They're talking at RV parks. They're talking as they're driving to ... When they stop at the gas station, "Oh, hey, where are you headed? Hey, where are you coming back from?" People actually talk about this in a completely different way. It's not like, "Oh yeah, I store my stuff down the street at Joe Schmoes." RV

Joe Downs (09:12):

Parks is

Sydnie Wilda (09:13):

Another one. These guys, they treat me like family. They've got a wash station. They've got air for the tires. All

Joe Downs (09:19):

Right. Well, stop, stop. Well, you stop it. We will get into the amenities in a second. But you made another good point in there, the RV parks. Another asset class that's on the rise, again, because COVID, as horrible as COVID was, actually, there was some silver linings, and one of them was it reintroduced people to the outdoors again. I mean, every outdoor business you could think of has grown post- COVID. I own short-term rentals in the Poconos, the mountains in Pennsylvania. It's hiking, fishing, skiing in the winter, boating, whatever. Boomed, boom, during COVID, because people wanted to be out of the cities. And the occupancy of those houses is still up.You saw the growth in the boat and RV sales during COVID, you still see it sustained since RV parks, outdoor recreational activity, everything's on the rise, which again, all of that, if we're talking about boat and RV storage right now, all of that is very great and healthy for boat and RV storage.

(10:36):

And by the way, I think it's a trend that's going to continue, not reverse.

(10:43):

And you made such a great point about how people are talking and they're talking at campgrounds and they're talking at RV parks and they're talking at facilities. And one of the things they're talking about is, where do you store? And in fact, some of the things they're talking about is, do you have a place to store? Because I know folks that don't even have places to store. It depends on where you live. Some areas are more plentiful with parking than others. There's plenty of places in the United States where ... I mean, I know somebody who was on a year long waiting list up in the Boston area and they were moving their RV from one friend's house to another once a month just so they didn't wear out the friendliness of their neighborhood. But then you look at, as I mentioned in the opening, HOAs, all municipalities are moving against homeowners storing boats and RVs.

(11:33):

By the way, even if you want to, that's if you want to store it at your house, they're still moving against you. All this is a benefit to the boat and RV facility, storage facility. But back to your point of people are talking, they're talking not just about amenities, they're talking about management. So what makes a boat and RV facility a well-managed facility versus a poorly managed facility? What are the things that tenants actually care about, Citi?

Sydnie Wilda (11:58):

Well, and that's exactly where the difference lies is knowing what your tenants do and do not care about. The folks that are storing their beautiful class ARV, they're going to be pickier about their drive aisles, about their space, how they can access that space.

Joe Downs (12:16):

What does that mean, drive aisles?

Sydnie Wilda (12:18):

So think about your typical storage facility. Traditional storage, it's 20, 30 foot drive aisle, car can go both ways. It can pass. With these class A motor homes, these fifth wheels, these trailers, you're looking at needing to expand that out to 50 plus feet in order to accommodate space for them to back in both

Joe Downs (12:39):

Roads. So for turning radius to get into my

Sydnie Wilda (12:41):

Unit. Exactly.

Joe Downs (12:42):

So turning radius to get in right. Yeah. So that's what you mean by ... I just want to make sure the listener understood when you say drive aisle, we're in the business, we just throw those terms around. But there's a real meaning behind why a 60 foot drive aisle is a big difference when you own a motor home, a 35, 40 foot RV versus even a 40 foot drive aisle, right?

Sydnie Wilda (13:04):

Well, especially at the end of the day, you're coming home from the lake or you're pulling in late from camping. All you want to do is you've got a backseat full of kids, you're tired, everyone's whiny and cranky. You want to get everything put into the space, and then you want to be able to drop your trailer and pull out of there as fast as you can. And so the more convenience that you can bring to making it that accessible, tenants will value that above everything else.

Joe Downs (13:33):

Couldn't agree more. Now, I had to cut you off there. So you were talking about some other amenities. Give me a couple other amenities that really make a difference. If you had to list your ... Drive aisle, I think is as boring and unsexy as that is, and I don't even think people would call it an amenity. It's more of a function of the facility. It might be one of the most important things if you have a large RV or boat on a trailer. Exactly. And

Sydnie Wilda (13:58):

It really is.

Joe Downs (14:00):

Yeah. What are some of the other kind of must-haves, top amenities?

Sydnie Wilda (14:07):

Must-have top amenities that we get phone calls for every day at our locations is air for tires, a rinse-off station, not a wash station. Let's be very clear here, and there is a difference. We're not looking to allow people to completely wash something down. It's a rinse station. You're looking at vacuums for boats.

Joe Downs (14:28):

What is a rinse station versus the wash station?

Sydnie Wilda (14:31):

So rinse station is just water. It's water in a hose. They can rinse off their boat at the end of the day, make sure it's clean before they put it away. A wash station, you're providing soap, there's scrubbers, you're looking at more of a DIY car wash situation and no one wants to deal with that. Mud gets involved. Rensing that off can leave undesirable areas around your facility, especially if it's a Class A. You really just want to make sure that you're taking care of it.

Joe Downs (15:04):

Okay. And that's interesting. Is that something you require from a management standpoint? So I come in for my trip, it doesn't matter if it's an RV or a boat because the boat's on trailer. I came through, I don't know, out of a park or whatever, I got mud all over my vehicle. Is that something that's required of me as a tenant to hose down before I drive all through this facility, dropping mud everywhere?

Sydnie Wilda (15:37):

I would never say that it's a requirement. I would say it's a best practice thing. We're often also asked questions like, "Hey, how do you recommend I store my vehicle? Do you have any requirements along those lines?" The answer is no. We won't require you to store your things a certain way. However, if you say, "Hey, I need to store this, what do you recommend?" And it's winter in Minnesota, I'm going to say, "Hey, we recommend you get your boat wrapped. We recommend that you make sure that it's completely winterized before you pull it into your space." If it's an RV for the winter, hey, make sure you've got it winterized, throw a cover on it to protect it from the elements through the winter, and then frequently come and check on it. If it's an outdoor space, we want to make sure your snow's not building up on the roof and going to cause a problem for you in the spring, but come and make sure you're checking on your vehicle.

Joe Downs (16:26):

That makes a ton of sense. You know what I just thought of too is, again, it's not an amenity, but it's a functionality that I think is just so critical. How about your egress? The entrance to the facility and the exit of the facility could be the same, it could be different, and then also your egress off of the road that you're on, and that might actually ties into location. So can you talk a little bit about what makes for a great situation, an okay situation, and just a crappy situation?

Sydnie Wilda (17:04):

So Boat and RV, it's already very unique. And you're talking about people that are pulling on an extension of their vehicle. They've got a trailer, they're in a bigger vehicle as it is, or they've got a boat attached to them. You really have to think about how your gate's opening, what that entrance looks like, because best practice for this, you want to be close to a major roadway just for ease of access. However, how you're going to pull in is going to make a difference because you have to be able to fit upwards of, let's just call it 70 feet if you have a larger fifth wheel with a vehicle attached. You have to be able to fit that in the area for your gate leading up to your keypads.

Joe Downs (17:52):

Right. Just to open the gate.

Sydnie Wilda (17:53):

Yeah, just to open the wheel.

Joe Downs (17:57):

Yeah. So you want to be out on the road trying to get into your facility and risk getting hit, right?

Sydnie Wilda (18:02):

And then what- Exactly. And so for the safety of everyone, you want to make sure that you've got a pretty good space there and it can't have a sharp corner to turn into. Otherwise, you're looking at people really struggling, your fence might get taken out a couple times. You really have to think like a driver for these. Just because someone has a boat or a RV or a trailer does not mean that they have a shiny little certificate saying that they could actually drive it.

Joe Downs (18:30):

No. Yeah, I didn't even think about that. Right. You want to idiot proof this thing. Yes. And what's funny is the catchpoint too is you want to be on a busy road, a busy enough road, not just for visibility, but because you don't want your customers driving through neighborhoods and making all kinds of turns to get to your facility. You want to be off the highway, maybe one road ideally, and then ease of turn into your facility, which then means you need either that's 70 feet. But I think you also probably want a shoulder or an egress lane or something to get off of that busy road and then just start to make that turn. So folks, if you're listening and you haven't, if you're thinking about designing one or if you're looking at buying one, these are things that you should be considering. And in fact, I'm going to make sure people know how to get in touch with you at the end of the show here, but I might reach out to Sydnie to ask her these questions like, "Hey, I'm looking at this facility.

(19:33):

Here's the address. What do you think about the egress of this facility, not just from its location for the highway, but off the road? How do I get off the road into the ... " I don't know what you call that front entrance, kind of the foyer of your facility, if you will, but the keypad, the retaining area before you even get in the gates. And then I know when they're building them new, ideally it's all Bluetooth, right? So you just pull it up and almost like a garage door opener just opens for you.

(20:08):

The older, I don't know if it's cost effective to do that for older facilities, but if not that, you really do need that runway so that you can get to the keypad. And by the way, is the keypad up high? Is the town low? Is there one of each? These are all these considerations that I think factor, and to your point earlier, people talk. They talk about little nuances like this. I think as much as they talk about the air and the wash station and is there a propane, do they sell propane? And I've seen them where they've got a little mini store, I'll call it.

Sydnie Wilda (20:47):

Yeah. Where you can get parts for your RV, snacks before you're heading out. There's all kinds of things that you can do with them.

Joe Downs (20:57):

Yeah, I visited one where you could even order food ahead of time, have it delivered there, and they kept it cold for you. And then you show up-

Sydnie Wilda (21:06):

Grocery delivery is universal at this point, whether it's to your RV before you head out or it's to your front door.

Joe Downs (21:13):

But do you have a place to receive it? The groceries are going to be delivered between 2:00 and 4:00 PM. I don't know. I'm not getting there until 5:00. So do you have a place to receive it? I mean, we're talking class A plus plus at that point, but my point earlier is it's the little things I think that people talk about most. Oh, I hate that facility. It's a pain in the ass to turn into because of this or because of that or whatever, but it's the only spot around. Well, you're in luck for a while if you're the only game in town, but it's those little nuances. Then I think when we get to the wash station and the propane and do they have a place to receive my food, that's just icing on the cake. But I honestly think it's the small conveniences, the little things that I know that ... And that's just the function of the facility.

(22:05):

What are some of the little things as a manager that you do that makes a difference for people? You were starting to talk about that earlier, and I think I took us on a different direction, but ...

Sydnie Wilda (22:16):

Well, from a management perspective, I mean, really getting to know your clientele. One thing that we've noticed is people don't want to, if you have a call center, say they call in with an issue, they don't want it passed down the road. They want an answer right then because they're at the facility and they want to pull out. And so it is that urgent. They're on their way to pick up their vehicle so they can go out and have fun with family. And that's always a timed event. You're planning around, "Hey, we're supposed to be at the campground at this time, so we need to leave at this time, which means we have to get there to get the thing ready at this time kind of stuff." So when you're thinking about your client, we've learned, hey, if there's a problem, you need to be able to handle that with them on the phone.

(22:56):

So making sure that your call center, your manager, whatever it may be, has those tools to solve that issue right there is extremely important. If your gate's not opening because your keypad isn't working, can you open it remotely for them so they can have access and just say, "Hey, call me on your way out. We'll get it open for you. Don't you worry, we're going to get you out of here on time." If there's a problem with someone sticking out of their assigned space and so someone else can't pull their vehicle out, "Hey, do you have the information for that trailer so they can send you that information and you can call the tenant right then and handle it with them on the phone?" It will make a difference. We had a situation a couple of weeks ago where there was a late fee that was applied, perfectly paying tenant that he had gotten a late fee, his card had expired and he was so frustrated.

(23:51):

He's like, "I'm going to go elsewhere.This is ridiculous one time and this is what's happening." And just gave him a quick call. I was like, "Hey," and he's like, "Oh, I dealt with the owner previously of this facility and we were good friends. Hey, guess what? Still owned by good folks. I'm looking at your account right now. Looks like what we can do is we can give you this one-time wave. We're going to get you out of there on time. Your code should be activated now. Are you on site? If not, I'll open the gate for you. We'll get you in there and change the whole experience around for him because we got it handled in one call. It wasn't calling back and dealing with it later."

Joe Downs (24:31):

So what he just experienced was there's a principle called the peak end experience. And that was awesome that you did that. And so kudos to you as management and a management company. The peak in experience, if you ever walk into a chain restaurant, Starbucks, next time you go to Starbucks, notice that when you walk in, they might say Heidi when you walk in, especially if you mobile order, where you're just going in grabbing and running. They might say hi to you when you walk in, but take note at how they say goodbye to you when you leave. Everyone will. Any major chain restaurant, they might say hi to you when you're there. I'm sure somebody greets you, but on your way out, everyone that works there that you walk by will thank you for coming and hope you had a nice time. And that's called the peak and experience.

(25:19):

There's two things that happens, a peak experience, which could be good or bad. You remember two things from a situation, the peak and the end. And the peak could be bad. The peak of this case was bad. He had a charge, his car expired, he got a late fee, innocent mistake, obviously a good customer. His peak experience was bad, but his end experience was awesome. And that's what he'll remember. And I mean, kudos to you, that makes a huge difference. And that's true of, I think of any store, really any customer service experience, the way he handled it.

(25:56):

But I think especially when we're dealing with boats and RVs, back to your original point, because it's not just, "I stored my stuff here and they charge me late." I'm doing something, I'm trying to get somewhere with the vehicle that I store with you and I trust you to keep safe and my experience, which is beyond whatever's in my car or no longer in my car, it's beyond that because I actually just left my car and I took what I was storing and I was about to go have an experience with it. It's so much more interwoven. I guess what I'm trying to say, it's so much more heightened that customer service experience has to be more heightened. It does. Go ahead.

Sydnie Wilda (26:45):

Sorry to cut you off there, but it's because that's woven into their experience from the very beginning of purchasing this all the time. You'll see it at boat dealerships, our re-dealerships that, "If you're not happy, I'm not happy, give us a call. We want to make it right right now." They are set up for that excellent experience from purchase. So it is the responsibility of someone who has a boat and RV storage facility to continue that. So they do have that trust that if something goes wrong or if something is noticed, that they'll be notified that they are going to have a good experience, that we are here to help them continue on their journey to making memories or wherever life is taking them.

Joe Downs (27:34):

I love it. Let me throw something at you. If someone was listening right now and they're sitting on three, five, seven plus acres, I'm wondering what to do with it. What would you tell them about the boat and RV opportunity?

Sydnie Wilda (27:53):

If you have land that you are thinking about building boat and RV on, talk to boat and RV owners in your area, talk to the dealerships in your area and talk to anyone else that has a facility, maybe there isn't one, but really investigate what you have going on because there's some markets where there aren't heavy HOAs, so people can park at their house and they're willing to until their wife says, "Hey, get that ugly thing out of my driveway. I would like to have my beautiful home back." But if you're in an HOA heavy area, everyone's going out on the weekends, they're taking out boats, RVs, trailers, people are needing a place to park, you're really starting to see that lack and you have the ability to do it. Do it and find something that's going to set you apart from whatever else is going on.

(28:46):

So if you can provide an amenity or if you can provide an experience, make sure that you're factoring that in and go for it. Make sure you understand that market to a T and go for it.

Joe Downs (28:59):

You're far too humble. I will answer for you. I would suggest they call you and the storage manager because honestly, the first thing, look, besides the feasibility study which you'll need, but you got to pay for that, I would talk to somebody who actually manages these things first. I would say, "Look, here's my dirt. Here's where it is. I know you're not going to give me a feasibility study here, but you're a voice that I respect because you're in the business. You understand how these things function and operate. You know what works, you know what doesn't work. You manage a bunch of different ones in different places with different features, bells, and whistles, and issues."

(29:43):

I'm sure there's issues, everyone's got their own little issue of this. Unless you design the perfect one in the perfect place, you've got an issue here or there. And I would go to you and say, "Look, look at my piece of dirt. Is this even worth me spending money on? Is it never going to work because of what Where it is. Is it never going to work because it's on a state road and I'll never get an egress lane and therefore it's 55 miles an hour and no one's ever going to be able to slow enough to be able to get into this thing. Even though the visibility is great.

(30:15):

Is the topography set up so that I could actually build enough here because I know I need these 60 foot drive aisles that I heard you on a podcast about and I know I need this station and that station to have a class A and can I even get the rents there? I just glossed over that. Let me say that one slower. Can I even get the rents that would justify in this area that for the type of class A, B or C boat and RV facility I'm talking about that would justify the expense of developing one here if every other box is checked. Honestly, that would be my first phone call. It would be to someone like you who manages these things to just give me a good feeling, a good understanding of yes, this is worth spending money on or no, it's not.

(31:02):

No, I should, you know what? Storage maybe, but not boat and RV. I would want that gut check feeling before I go start spending money on feasibility studies and expert opinions, et cetera. All right. Sydnie, I'm not done with you quite yet, but I do need to bring this home. Keep

Sydnie Wilda (31:23):

It going. I'm enjoying this. Throw it

Joe Downs (31:25):

At me. I'm going to throw some takeaways at the listener here and I want you to add one at the end. So for me, number one takeaways, supply and demand, imbalance and boat and RV is real and it's been building for 20 years. As I mentioned, 500,000 plus new boats and RVs hitting the market annually and those are very conservative numbers versus 25 to 30,000 new spots a year. Maths in your favor. My second takeaway, the REITs aren't really coming to compete with you. Although I have heard some rumors that they're dancing around. They're dabbling, they're nibbling, but they're not here yet. So the space rewards operators, not passive investors, which means there's room for those willing to do the work and not have to worry about competing with the REITs still. And then three for me is the management. That's the multiplier. The opportunity means nothing if the execution's sloppy.

(32:21):

You have to find great people, build great systems. We're partnering with folks like you who already have them. If you want to learn more about ... Oh, sorry. Before I get to you, give me a takeaway that you have from this episode.

Sydnie Wilda (32:36):

I think the big thing is this is an emerging sector of the industry and it's something that does need to be taken seriously. So make sure you are, you're talking to the experienced professionals and you are looking at it. You're not ruling it out just because you're like, "Oh, maybe I should, maybe I shouldn't. There's not a ton of data behind this yet." Well, the data's there and it is supporting that this is turning into ... This is what self-storage was 20 years ago. So pay attention.

Joe Downs (33:06):

Oh, so well said. So well said. Sydnie, if I'm listening and I want to learn more about professional boat RV management, or I've got a piece of dirt and I want to heed Joe's advice and get in contact with you and the storage manager. We'll drop your info in the show notes, but what's the best way for folks to reach you or the storage manager, however you would like to be reached?

Sydnie Wilda (33:32):

Honestly, just reach out, give us a call, send me an email. We are a team and we're here to help you start the conversation. We're a partner along the way. We're not just here to manage your facility and do that. We're real operators. So if you're looking at something and you're thinking about it, give us a call and we'll help walk you through that process. We want to make sure that you're successful. We want to maximize whatever you can do for you. So give us a call, talk with us. We're easy to reach, we're easy to chat with, and we're a partner. So you can reach out to us on our website, which is the storagemanager.com. Joe said he'll drop my email in the show notes. All right, we'll do that. So that'll be there. I'm not going to try to spell it out for you.

(34:16):

It's a little too complicated. See?

Joe Downs (34:18):

All right. So the storagemanager.com is a nice, easy way if we're just listening to reach out to you guys. Awesome. All right. Folks, if this episode helped you see an opportunity you hadn't considered, do me a favor, share it with one person who's been complaining about cap rate compression or something. They need to hear this. Subscribe. If you don't miss what's coming, if you learn something today, leave a review. It helps other investors find us and frankly, it makes my day. And if you're still storing this podcast in your listen later pile, it's time to move it to the covered storage, if you will. Hit that subscribe button. You know someone sitting on a fence of a few acres of land wondering what to do with the send them this episode. You just might change your business. If you enjoyed this, again, subscribe, like, share.

(35:03):

We appreciate the podcast is free. The insights are real. The least you can do is subscribe and tell a friend. We're not above Gil Tripping. We'll see you next time, folks.

Announcer (35:14):

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