Self-storage facilities have become an increasingly popular option for many businesses, but not everyone knows the basics of what to do before taking the plunge. Systems can help you understand how to get started and also which services you need in order to make your business successful. Join this conversation with Sean Graham and learn from his experience.
Sean is the founder, owner, and operator of Maven Equities and Maven Storage. He is an entrepreneur and investor who focuses on real estate opportunities. Sean manages his own portfolio of residential rental properties while also investing in and developing self-storage facilities. Sean is a licensed CPA with a background in public accounting and private equity.
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During this episode, you will learn about:
Notable Quotes
Resources Mentioned
Connect With Sean Graham
*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Please consider leaving a review and sharing it with your friends and family, and follow us on Facebook!
*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Self-storage facilities have become an increasingly popular option for many businesses, but not everyone knows the basics of what to do before taking the plunge. Systems can help you understand how to get started and also which services you need in order to make your business successful. Join this conversation with Sean Graham and learn from his experience.
Sean is the founder, owner, and operator of Maven Equities and Maven Storage. He is an entrepreneur and investor who focuses on real estate opportunities. Sean manages his own portfolio of residential rental properties while also investing in and developing self-storage facilities. Sean is a licensed CPA with a background in public accounting and private equity.
Tune in!
During this episode, you will learn about:
Notable Quotes
Resources Mentioned
Connect With Sean Graham
*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Please consider leaving a review and sharing it with your friends and family, and follow us on Facebook!
*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Welcome to the making money in multifamily show,where we discuss everything to do with multifamily real estate investing.We believe it's the best way to gain financial freedom and build lasting wealth.This is where you'll find the best information and practices to help you succeed in your real estate business,whether you're already experienced or just starting out.Here's your host,Dave Morgia.
Dave Morgia:Hello,listener and welcome to the show.I'm your host,Dave Morgia and with me today is Sean Graham.Sean is the founder of Maven equities,which invests in self sort facilities.Primarily in Michigan.He is a licensed CPA with a background in public accounting and private equity.And he currently has over six and a half million under management between Maven and his personal holdings.Sean,welcome to this show.
Sean Graham:Dave.Thanks for having me on here.I'm happy to be here.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.Thanks for joining me.Um,and yeah,I guess,I guess we can kind of dig in,you know,you're,you're heavily in the self storage space now.I know you have some,some residential stuff too.Um,but the background as a CPA,how did you kind of go from a,to B you know,how did you get from where you are today?
Sean Graham:Yeah.So I went to college for accounting.Uh,I went to Eastern Michigan university.That's where I graduated from and I did my undergrad and graduate degrees in accounting.And I went and got my CPA license.And,uh,basically I hopped around for a few jobs,uh,that didn't really work out in my favor.But in the meantime,I started building up my real estate portfolio.I started,uh,simply through house hacking,um,in the Chicago area,uh,midway through my career.And eventually I was able to transition.And now I'm full time into self storage.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.So I mean the self storage,I guess maybe we'll start there.Like,what was it that peak your inches there,you know,going from the residential into that and,yeah,I guess,I guess maybe we'll just start with that.Like why,why did you go that avenue?
Sean Graham:Yeah.You know,I,I think,you know,you listen to bigger pockets a lot,right?You can.So you start listening to those podcasts and you see everybody on there,they're all successful.They're all doing something,they're all doing something different,but eventually you just kind of have to pick a path.So it's like,what path calls to you?Like,what do you want to do?So I knew I didn't wanna stay in residential real estate forever.I wanted to move from residential over into commercial.Just cuz you have more control over the value of your assets and commercial real estate.But I didn't know how,I didn't know which path I wanted to go down.So,you know,you start as Brandon Turner likes to say,right,you're kind of building the bridge here and there and you start having these bridges and they're all halfway built,but none of'em are actually getting across.So.I think I heard it was AJ Osborne on the self storage.Uh,he has a self storage income PA podcast,but I heard him talk on bigger pockets and it just clicked.I was like,this is it.This is what's for me.You know,there's no,no one's living there.There's no,you know,toilets,there's no plumbing.Like it's a simple business.Uh,it's a simple business model.And also like it has really good financing.Um,you know,I think when you get into commercial real estate,that's one of the most difficult parts,right?It's.Okay.I wanna go do this,my track.Record's kind of limited.How can I break into this industry?Uh,especially as you're still building up your own equity and your own wealth.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And the,the day we record,this is June17th.Um,if,if you're following this week,interest rates went up and,and,uh,they're projected go up and debt's going crazy left right.And center.I don't know how,how it's looking on the,the storage stuff,but,uh,the multifamily quotes are quotes are off the rails right now.It's it's getting re-quoted day by day.It seems so.It's pretty funny to see what's going on right now.
Sean Graham:It's scary.Cause it's like,we don't know where cap rates are going.Right.Everybody's been buying people have been buying self storage at crazy cap rates.Like you're hearing.Four5%cap rates,facilities like class,a facilities,and even like the lower class facilities,they're going for like six caps,all of a sudden interest rates jump,you know,point and a half,two points.It's like,well,you can't,you know,you can't buy a self storage facility at a six cap.If your interest rate6%,like it doesn't,doesn't really make sense.Where's the value.So,yeah,we're gonna see what happens here.
Dave Morgia:No,the,uh,yeah,there's literally no leverage on a spread like that.Right.So it'll be interesting to see how this stuff plays out in the next,I don't know.It's gonna,gonna probably be longer than you think.Possibly six months a year,who know,who knows,but I think eventually the dust settle a little bit.We'll see some,uh,some better deals here.Um,but yeah,I wanted to rewind Sean.You kind of mentioned that bit about the bridges and I wanted to hit at that,cuz I know your story is,is kind of interesting how you got like really heavily involved in real estate.You mentioned you're doing the residential,but you kinda leaned in pretty heavily on the self storage.So can you maybe kind of highlight that piece of it?Cuz I think it's a good piece to share with the
Sean Graham:audience,the residential part or which part that,
Dave Morgia:how,how you like leaned in full time into real estate,like how,how that came to be.Yeah.
Sean Graham:So,uh,I,I went through.I went through a few jobs.Um,and I was trying to make my way in the finance and accounting world.And,you know,I'm,I'm big,very big on alignment now.And I'm somebody who I,you know,I,I kind of,I wear my heart on my sleeve.Like I'm not very good at,at faking it or faking passion.And I was thinking about this earlier today and it's like,you know,Passion leads to knowledge,and then,you know,your knowledge,uh,it creates confidence in like what you're doing and that goes straight into job performance.Right?And so,uh,first,you know,I started out and I was in public accounting,went and got my CPA license and everything,and I was in it for about a year.And then one day I got fired from,from my job and.I was like,okay,like,you know,I went down this path cause I was told,Hey,if you wanna be an entrepreneur,that's fine,but you need to go get something that no one can take from you.So it's like,all right,I'll go into accounting.I'll go get my CPA license.I'll always have a job.And it just didn't really work out that way.Um,it,frankly,I was a little bit lost trying to figure out what I wanted to do and it wasn't even after that,it took several years really,uh,for me to figure out,Hey,real,estate's the path that I want to go.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.So,so getting into the full-time,um,I mean,you,you show me a little bit like what,what you kind of dive into,um,your full-time,but also you leverage others'time.And I think the systems you kind of have set up are,are pretty interesting.I think you have,you know,quite a few things working for you to be able to,to essentially scale at,at a pretty decent pace,especially for,for how quickly,um,you know,you've ramped up.Uh,do you wanna just kind of hit at that,maybe talk about.You know how you've gotten into,um,deal sourcing and those types of things.Cuz I mean you're very for right now is pretty niche,like self storage in Michigan,right?Like that's where you've closed deals so far.So how do you build out those systems to actually get that deal flow?So you're have enough moving it's a hot market.So you gotta hit like300deals to get one done these days.So
Sean Graham:yeah,it's super hot and everyone's doing it right.Like,you know,a couple years ago there was deals everywhere and you know,in retrospect it's.Like anything else,right?Like you should have bought all the apple stock10years ago and you should have bought all the self storage.You could have five years ago.Right.But,um,now it's very competitive,right?Like everyone is calling the mom and pop owners.They wanna buy self storage and,and it's tough.Uh,so,you know,there's still opportunity out there,but you kind of have to find,find a way to get ahead of the competition.So.You know,lately I have been focused on ground up development opportunities.And so,you know,it's,it's really identifying and finding those pieces of land where,Hey,this is gonna work.And this is going to,you know,this,this will be a good place to create a like class,a indoor climate controlled facility and,uh,build it.And it has.If there's enough demand in the market,the rental rates are at the right,right.Price areas,growing the population's there.That makes sense.Um,and that's like a,that's an area that I'm targeting.It's not necessarily the easiest,right.Because everyone has land and everyone's like,Hey,like I just gonna build a self storage facility here.And it's like,yeah.Okay.That,that may work.But.You're having like a few hundred cars drive by,you know,a day.Like it's not,it may not work either,so you really wanna do it.Right.Like,those are it's,it's a higher risk,uh,category,but that's what I've been mostly focused on on lately.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And you know,I've,I've seen your stuff before.Cause we,we have,you know,quite a few hours together,you have this kind of matrix,right.Where you break down,like kind of.Just highlights of like,what's a,a go,no,go for like the high level of a deal.Um,you know,as far as demand for the market goes to build something,cuz you can't right.You can't just like,okay,buy the land,build something without knowing there's demand for it.So,so what are you really looking for?What are the metrics you're kind of targeting and,and what's the like pricing on that?
Sean Graham:Yeah.So,you know,I kind of have a,like a system where my virtual assistants they're getting,they're getting really good and they're able to analyze deals and quickly filter through deals to see like,okay,is this something actually worth digging,digging into?And so.When you're looking at a piece of land for me.Right.I want to get to know as quickly as possible.I wanna find out like right away,like why should we not build here?And so I have like a criteria checklist and it kind of goes through more like demographics and data to see like,okay,like,is this a place where we can,you know,where we should build.And,you know,the other thing is like,you can build all different types of classes of facilities,right?But like,if you're gonna build a class,a facility,uh,that it,your,your demographics have to be,um,a little bit like higher income and you have to have that population there.So,and it takes just as much work,right?To like go build a big class,a facility like I'm talking like a hundred thousand square foot indoor climate control facility,as it does like12,000square feet of like drive drive up non climate control.You still have to go through the engineering.You still have to get the architect work done.You still have to go through zoning permitting.It's like you might as well go for,for the big,um,the big build.So.Uh,regarding like the system,you know,my VAs,they're able to take a,a property and we,we have a checklist,we have a checklist of criteria.Right.So if somebody brings me a property,I say like,okay,look,here's the checklist.This is what we're looking for.Does it meet all of these?Right.And so Dave,if like we're working together,I'd have a tracker and you know,you'd enter property.And then my virtual assistant,you know,would look at it and it's like,does it meet.Does it have the drive by traffic,right?Like we're looking for like15,000vehicles per day.It doesn't have to be right on that highway,but those vehicles need to be able to see it.Um,you know,we want at least30,000,uh,people in the population,right?Like within the five mile radius,ideally more than that,ideally it's more like50,but at least30,we're not even gonna look at it.You know,we want the area to be growing.We want the median household incomes to be closer around80,000.We.Um,rents to be like a dollar50,a square foot,right?Like these are all things that we can easily look at and say like,okay,well,it doesn't meet that.So next property's not gonna work because you know,I've gone down that rabbit hole too many times where you start digging into a property and you think it's great and everything,right.Especially in the beginning of my career,I remember spend a lot of time on this property and putting together like a contract and everything.And then it was like,oh,it's in a flood.And it's like if I had taken just five minutes in the beginning and had my,you know,virtual assistant,just go check the FEMA website.I would've seen it was in a flood zone and I would've save myself so much time.So it it's taken a lot of ex you know,a lot of,um,diving in and,you know,experience with it in order to,to create that,that checklist,but it's helped a ton.And then after that,we can start digging into more of the detailed stuff.Right.Like,um,the exact,like price comparisons,unit price comparisons from all the facilities,the occupancies around the,the competitor facilities,the,uh,supply and demand.And even within that,right.It's like,Hey,if it's oversupplied at one mile,like,just stop,you don't need to go through the full analysis.So it's still a work in progress.Right.But building those workflows.So it's clear to them.Hey.Okay.If it meets this,yes,go on.Uh,but if it doesn't just stop right there,like we don't need to go any further.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And,uh,the getting to know is the perfect kind of explanation to that.It it's,how can I kill a deal without wasting too much of my time?Right?Because you gotta be,you know,slightly pessimistic and anything you get presented,whether it's from,you know,a direct to owner or whether it's a broker om,or whatever it is,you gotta assume something in there might be a little funky and you gotta try to find where that is as quick as possible.That's gonna kill the deal.Right.Some something side in there,nine times outta10.Um,so to have,have those.You know,underwrite in15minutes,kind of move on with your day.And if it passes,do that,do that next level.I agree.It's always the key.Um,
Sean Graham:I like,I like how you've you set it
Dave Morgia:up with the VAs?I,I think it's,it's pretty interesting.I don't know.I.The,I guess the way you have it set up with your VAs is slightly different.From what I'd heard from others is,is some VAs are,you know,strictly like doing full underwriting,but the way you have it set up is kind of that initial pass and then like a further pass.So like,what was that process like for you to set that up?Cuz obviously there's some learning curve to that,right?There's,there's teaching a virtual assistant,how to actually,you know,evaluate that,um,I know you've mentioned in the past,it's,it's really kind of primarily video based where you'll record stuff.Um,how was that experience for them once they got to that point where they were starting to actually look at these things,like when they were ready to actually do it,like,what was that iteration process
Sean Graham:for them?Yeah.So I,I think you have to,you have to bring it back to hiring,right?Like just hiring the right person and the right virtual assistant.It's kind of tough to do.And so,yeah,when I was first looking,I was going through all of the virtual assistant companies,right.Where it's like,Hey.You just tell us,you need a virtual assistant.We'll,you know,we'll get you,uh,an interview with somebody it'll be the perfect fit and you go from there and you know,you're gonna pay us like double,triple the rate,but you don't have to go through that process of hiring.So I,you know,I went through some of those interviews and I kind of realized that I was looking for a bit of a shortcut,you know,cause I didn't wanna put in the work of like,Hey,I need to find the right person.I need to find a good VA.So I was spending my time doing this.And in reality,I was just wasting more time.You know,I,I eventually realized like I need to go direct to like the open market,go to like up work or go to fiber and create a job description.Exactly what I'm looking for and like filter through and find.Those like great candidates.Right.And then invite them to,to this job,like,Hey,I think this is something that could work for'em and then go through and go through that negotiation process or sorry,interview process.Right.Um,and so I think the first step there is like creating a job description of like what this person's going to do.And not some of it is like actual tasks.Right.But a lot of it is,is more conceptual.It's more like.Like,yeah,you're gonna be entering data.You're gonna be filtering through properties,but taking a step back further,like,what does success look like in this role?Right.And so in that job description,right?It's like success looks like when I'm able to step away from.Property management and I'm not answering,you know,like calls or texts from,uh,self storage customers.And I have like full faith in you and you are handling that,right?Like that's what success looks like.Or success looks like,Hey,you're able to analyze these deals and just come to me and say like,here,this is a good deal.And present it to me.Then we move forward.That's what success is.And so I,you know,you have to find the right person,the right people who are,um,eager to learn and stuff,and you have to have patience too.Right?Like I kind of,I kind of realize that if my,you know,team members aren't getting something or they're not being successful,that's me.That's my,my fault.It's not theirs.Um,I'm not doing something right.Like,so it might be super obvious to me,but.It's not clear enough to them.It's just like,how can you break it down further?How can you really automate it?How can you kind of put together like a clear workflow?Like,you know,if then if not this,right?Like,so it is taken a long time to kind of,um,get to where I'm at and.I'm still nowhere close to like,right.Like where I want to be,but that's part of the journey and part of the process and we're getting there.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.You mentioned like,what does success look like?Um,so.To relay that message positively,obviously that's like you mentioned,starting in the interview process,how do you,how do you continue to highlight that with,with the VAs?So they know like,yeah,you're working on these tasks every day,but like,this is the bigger picture,cuz a lot of times hiring someone they're not really necessarily seeing like the big pie.Right.So,so how do you kind of bring it all back home that way?Has there been like a deviation there or anything like that or any
Sean Graham:examples?Yeah.I,you know,I'm still,I'm still learning for sure.Yeah.Um,but I've,I'm going with the traction,like EOS model,you know,the,uh,entrepreneurial operating system.So a lot of it comes down to like KPIs and metrics.Right.So it it's,you know,they're being successful if they are meeting.Their KPIs and their metrics on a weekly basis.Right.And when they're not,it's like,okay.You know,I end up spending too much time on something and,uh,I have to jump in and that's not where we,where we wanna be.Um,so,you know,we're,we're still,we still work through a lot of things,but every week,We have a team meeting and we go through those metrics and it's like,Hey,did you meet this criteria?Did you not?It's just like,it's just data,right?It's like yes or no.Like how many,how many,um,did you analyze the deal?Every deal you were given,right?Like,did you get the analysis done within.48hours or I think it's now72hours.Right.Uh,did you get it back within that turn turnaround time?Um,were you,you know,did you handle all of the open,like property management,um,uh,texts and emails and calls like,like,did you get back to'em within24hours?That sort of thing.So there's different criteria for each team member,but you know,I've also implemented one-on-one meetings,right?So I.We have the team meeting,but I'm also meeting with each individual one on one once a week to kind of review and teach them.So a lot of what I do too is,you know,I will do it myself and I have to be able to do it and master it right.And I'll record myself,I'll get on a,a zoom and I'll record myself and I'll walk through the entire process and I'll talk through it as I'm doing it with instructions and say,Hey,this is how we do it.And,um,I'll store that recording.In Google drive in a shared folder and they can see that.So every,so rather than me having to go and teach them every time they can kind of go back to the recording and rewatch and learn at their own pace.And that also helps me with scale because as I bring more people in,they're able to go to those videos as training videos and look at'em and then.Catch on quicker themselves.So that's the process I've been going with.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And I think you have the system to build the system.If that makes sense.You know,you,you have the kinda outline to,to create the videos and,and the kinda location to put them and the outline on how to,how to make sure you get trained up.So that's,that's probably the biggest thing,right?It takes a lot of work to get that,that moving.But once you have that going,that's,that's helpful.Um,you've mentioned,you've mentioned like roadblocks,like removing yourself further from the business in general.We've talked about that.So what is the,what does that kind of look like for you?Um,moving forward,I kind of highlight this in one of my questions,but I'm gonna cheat a little bit here.Like what,what does it seem like for you to further remove yourself from the business to focus on,on the more visionary stuff?
Sean Graham:Yeah,I think,you know,I consider myself very much a visionary and not so much of the detail oriented,uh,integrator right now.I,in my business,I played both roles.Yep.But,um,Long term,you know,I,I wanna have that,that integrator on board and working with them,uh,him or her directly,so that they're kind of handling,managing the people and the team and managing those KPIs.And I'm more leading where we want to go.So,you know,I think for me,success will for my role,right?Will eventually be.Me focusing on the syndication side of things,focusing more on capital raising,focusing on,um,you know,making connections,networking,right?Like this stuff here.Right.Getting on a podcast,uh,banking,relationships,that sort of thing.Right?Like those are the things that.They're not,you don't outsource that stuff.I mean,you can hire the right people.Right.And like,that's good too.And eventually we will,but that's where I wanna focus more on my time of more of my time,rather than getting in and,you know,drilling into a specific location or a specific facility.And.You know,calculating their average,uh,rent per square foot.Like that's not the best use of my time.Like then,like I have to be moving the business forward.We have to be moving forward.My team needs to be focused,focused on like what we have.Like on our plate now,or we've already closed.
Dave Morgia:And that circles back all the way to the beginning where we're talking about motivation and excelling and what you like to do,right.Because it's not,it's not just,um,like you can do the nitty gritty,you can do the detail oriented integrator stuff,but it's,it's kind of not your lane.You'd rather be,you know,managing the key relationships and,and move into business forward.So it's only gonna get better as you,you try to elevate yourself into that role,you know,more and more every day.So it's funny how,you know,how.That works out.Yeah.Um,but yeah,it's,it's interesting to hear your perspective on storage cuz you know,I,I don't always see that.Um,I've actually had a few people on the show kind of as of late,actually one person that you've partnered with.Um,I don't always get to see the nitty gritty on,uh,on the details of,of what it takes to underwrite these deals.Um,surprisingly enough,haven't done a ton of system stuff on it yet.I should probably get someone to really dive deep on systems with me.Um,but yeah,I think it's,I think it's interesting,like the self storage,like you mentioned,it's kind of a little bit more of,of like a demand driven thing when you're talking about scaling,like,uh,the development,right.It,it's tough to like justify in certain areas and it's kind of black and white,like actually.Just having demand based on just a few,a few simple metrics.Um,so appreciate all,all the insights there.
Sean Graham:Yeah,for sure.It's easy to get caught up in the emotional stuff of like,this is the perfect property and I love it.Shiny lens
Dave Morgia:and stuff like that.Right.So,yeah.Yeah.
Sean Graham:But if you really just like boil it down to checklists and like doesn't meet this,it becomes black and black and white,just like yes or no.Um,so that makes decision making a lot easier and.Yeah.You miss out on some deals,right?Because it's like,well,this area's a little bit gray,but you know,and maybe it'd work,maybe not,but you can't really scale at that.If you're gonna look at every,every single property or every single,um,you know,facility that way.Well,you can only get through so many,so it's,it's getting to that systematized approach and it's difficult to do,but.You know,everybody everyone's looking for different stuff too,right?Like my buy criteria is not gonna be the same as,as your buy criteria.And that's fine.That's kind of the beauty of the industry too,cuz you know,different people are looking for different,different things,different returns and they're going about it in different ways
Dave Morgia:and what you got three deals closed.How many did it take,uh,to look at,at least on the,on the high level spreadsheet there to get that done.Do you know top ahead had to quiz you.I mean
Sean Graham:you.I like I mentioned,I decided to go full time sales storage.This is about two years ago now.Right?It's that was,uh,mid pandemic summers,probably June of2022.When I was listening to that bigger pockets podcast.And I was like,this is where I need to go at the time though.I was still working at w two for a while.Um,and,uh,when I,after that,like I,when I went full time into self storage,it still took me.A year and I don't know,a quarter to close on my first two deals.So it wasn't,it wasn't easy for a long time there,you know,I was struggling.You can force things,you can force deals,but,uh,that's just gonna come back to bite you.So,um,yeah,it took,took a year and four months or so to close my first two deals.And when I did though,things kind of things started accelerating from there.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And now is probably as good a time as ever to make sure you're looking at the right stuff.Choppy waters right now.So
Sean Graham:I know,right?Yeah.You really have to buy.Right.But.You know,I,I think fundamentally I,you know,I started in real estate back in like2017.I started,started looking at it before then.Right.Like,yeah.I don't know.Beginning of2017,let's say.And.I knew,you know,a lot of the,the teachings then like bigger pockets and stuff is focused on cash flow.Right?It's like,you,obviously you want appreciation and you want these,these assets to gain value and you can force appreciation,you know,and you can,um,you know,the market changes too,and there's just like gradual appreciation.Right.But.You don't want to just buy for that.You don't want to become a speculative investor.And so I've really carried that into,into self storage.I think especially the last two years when interest rates have dropped and the markets going crazy,whether you're in residential housing or you're in self storage or a different asset class.It's easy to get swept up in that.And it's hard to stay in the fundamentals of buying cash flowing assets that are going to,you know,ideally build equity over time.But the truth is like,I don't have any control over like market cap rates,cuz I don't have control over what the federal reserve does.Right.I don't have control over those interest rates.So,um,But what I do do is I buy again,cash flowing facilities and cash flowing,uh,rental properties.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And especially talk about,you know,getting more and more into syndications.You absolutely have to make sure you're,you're doing deals that are gonna protect investors'money.So right.That that's the end all be all.Um,Sean.Yeah,really appreciate it.I wanna hit these five key questions before we sign off.If you're ready for'em.
Sean Graham:Yeah,I'm ready for'em.Let's go.
Dave Morgia:So,first one,if you could only pick one trait that explains your success,what is that trait?And.
Sean Graham:Yeah,I would say persistence.Um,I'm a very persistent person,you know,when I,I set my mind to something I'm going,you know,I'm gonna do it.Uh,that's just kind of wired in me.I kind of was,I was brought up in a household where it's like,You can be anything you wanna be,you can do anything you wanna do.Uh,but you can't give up,you know,and you have to keep going and don't,don't quit at that.Right?Like Brandon Turner talks a lot about like quitting.Well,you have to quit to like outsource things,which is fine.That's different.Right?It's like you,I don't wanna be analyzing every deal every day.Like I need to quit that so I can hand it off to somebody else so I can focus on like higher level things.But overall.Persistence and not quitting on like where you're going,where you're heading.That's really paid off for me.So
Dave Morgia:yeah.It's,it's not like you're quitting the mission.You're just changing the way you're gonna get the mission done.Right.Like's that's what it is.Yeah,exactly.Like you might have to go a different road to different approach,but as long as you just keep going,you know,you'll figure it out.So,yeah.Yeah.And then,uh,what is the most uncharacteristic thing you have done in your business?Sean?And why did you do it?
Sean Graham:Yeah,you know,I I've thought about this a lot and,uh,I,I think,you know,it comes down to talking about your failures,right?Like it's easy to,to get up here and just say like,Hey,these are all the successes I've had,um,or for anybody to do that.But it's a lot more difficult to talk about,like what went wrong and what your failures are,especially when you're getting out and you're,you know,you're going on a podcast or you're going,and you're talking to groups and you're kind of,you know,telling that to the world.Like,that's not an easy thing to do.So.More lately.I have been talking about like my journey and my like struggles again,like in the W2world and like going through multiple jobs,getting fired,uh,from different jobs before discovering real estate and finding like my true passion of like what I wanted to do and like where I wanted to be and going down that avenue.So,uh,again,not an easy thing to talk about it is uncharacteristic,but,uh,I,I think it's important to do as.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.It's,it's like that,uh,you wanna present like the best image of yourself,right.But also at the same time,ironically enough,like everyone just wants to like,know the real you and invest with the real you.So like even,even disregard invest,like they just wanna know Sean for Sean,they wanna know Dave for Dave.So like just like wipe way the face,just like put on,you know,just be yourself and,and you'll probably actually be way more successful that way.So I think of
Sean Graham:the.I don't know if you've seen the office episode with Michael Scott and he kind of goes through that interview thing where he says,I,I don't remember it.Exactly.He's talking about how,like,you know,like,so what's your biggest weakness and he just talks about like how great he is,you know,like how,like his biggest weakness is like his strength and here's why,and he is the greatest thing ever.And it's just funny because,uh,I think that's a lot of what interviewing is.Right.And it's like,it,it comes down to that,but authenticity,I think comes from being open and talking about the things that have gone wrong too.Um,I think is just as important and.Everyone goes through'em,you know,everyone's struggles and you don't always see that with people.But,uh,I think the majority of problems that people face they're the same.Um,yeah.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.And then you give those interviewee type answers to someone in real life.They'll see right through that all day.So I know it's like,okay.Sean's a funny,like,not gonna talk to him anymore.So,uh,can you name a time,Sean,where you felt like you were not going to end up successful and how did you overcome that?
Sean Graham:Yeah.You know,I,I think just to further that,uh,point that I was talking about,uh,you know,I was after I,uh,was fired from my CPA job,I mentioned in the beginning,I moved to Chicago and I was like,you know,that's okay.I got my CPA license.Like I pay off all my student loans.I'm gonna go to Chicago,just started dating,uh,this girl now who's now my wife.Right.And like,things were going fantastic.Personally,uh,and I was like,all right,I can overcome.Job firing.So I moved there and I go into a job and I just hate the job.Like I hated it from the beginning.And,you know,I kind of talked about how it's not good.Talk about how,like,you know,like if you're passionate about something,like you become knowledgeable about it,you build confidence and it,it shows in that job performance and it just didn't happen for me that way.Like it didn't,I didn't like it.I never built that confidence.I didn't do well.I didn't have the job performance.You know,they were,they were expecting,um,and some of that was technical,right?Like some of it was like entering.It was no longer like an accounting job.It was entering more of like a finance position.But ultimately I just didn't build the confidence in what I was doing.And so when I,I got fired after a year from that job.And at that point,you know,you,you kind of go through those things and you feel like,well,yeah,like,what am I gonna do?You know,you feel like a bit of a,a failure.You don't know.Where you're going.Um,you know,and at that point,I,I,I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur.I knew I wanted to do my own thing,but I didn't know what that was yet.So I didn't really have that path.So it,it,it's tough because you start,you know,for a little bit,you start kind of doubting yourself until you discover what you wanna do.Luckily,I was able to do that.You know,it was like shortly after that,that I,I read rich dad,poor dad,and I discovered bigger pockets and I kind of found a path and I was.Okay.I have some direction now,like this is calling me.This is what I need to do.This is what I wanna do.Like simp.Next step is like,okay.House hacking.It's easy way.You can use an FHA loan.You can buy a few units at one time in one building.Uh,it's a low down payment.I can get qualified.Uh,I just need to go get approved and I need to get another W2.And like,that's how I can enter into this world.And,um,that led a spark under me,you know,like that's,uh,that was my next step and things,things grew from there.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.That's pretty cool.I mean,it's.You go from,like,I'm assuming,you know,like a pretty serious low,like,you know,just got fired from the job that you pretty much hated anyways.Maybe,maybe not like heartbroken,but like,shit I got fired.Right.And,and then you go to like,okay,I'm gonna like pick myself up and just like,do the entrepreneur thing.Like that's,that's,uh,talking about like authentic Sean.Like,that's pretty impressive to be able to do that.Right.Like a lot of people's egos would get hit pretty hard after something like that.So
Sean Graham:that's pretty cool.Yeah.And it did for sure.Right?It's not like,it's like,I'm proud of it.It's not something I'm proud of it.That's just what happened.Everybody has different paths.And I think that was my path,right.Like,you know,I think I needed to kind of go through that and.Uh,realize like,Hey,this is not the direction that you are supposed to be going or that you wanna go down.Like,I didn't,I didn't want to build myself up in,you know,like a big corporate company and become a CFO or anything like that.Like that didn't excite me or,uh,create happiness at all.But the idea of being able to control my own time and work for myself and create financial freedom and build,uh,passive.You know,sources of,of cash flow and really be able to create like magical like moments and,uh,time,like with my family and travel,things like that,that excited me.And so I was like,okay,this is what I need to do.It's it's pretty obvious to me.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.That's that's excellent.And then we'll flip that one.So can you name a time where something in your business went perfectly and what did you do to make
Sean Graham:that a reality?Yeah,so.I thought about this and I was kind curious,like,do you have anybody?Who's just like,yeah,this
Dave Morgia:went absolutely perfectly.No,almost everyone says,yeah,nothing goes perfectly is usually how they start that question.So all.All right.Okay.Well,
185 video:I'm
Sean Graham:not gonna be the first one.Uh,yeah,nothing does go perfectly.You know,I think that's just the beauty of,of life and the struggle.And,uh,you gotta,you have to figure out where,where you wanna go and how to get there.And,um,I.Perfect is a it's a zigzagging road.So.Uh,I,I think one thing that has gone very well lately is just like the mindset stuff and the masterminds this,this year,you know,I've been like together,you and I we're both in,uh,ascend with uh Gobundance and I joined,uh,Jason Dre's like his mind academy and I'm in a mastermind there and things like that.And that's,that's paying off a lot,right.Because you start surrounding yourself by.People who have similar interests and people who want to go out and build their own businesses.And,uh,you kind of surround yourself with those elevated mindsets and that starts paying off.Um,I think,you know,like,I,I really believe in an abundance type of mentality and I think your mindset creates.Creates your reality,right?So the more you surround yourself with those type of people,um,the better your future is going to be.
Dave Morgia:Yeah.You,you couldn't couldn't have nailed it better.It's just,it's like,you mentioned like the zigzag,right?Like it's not perfect,but uh,just keeping yourself with the people that are gonna keep you honest and keep you on the right track will do it pretty much.So yeah,like you'll find a way.Sure.Then then the last one here,you know,you mentioned the mindset,how,how you've kind of been dealing with that,but,uh,maybe it's a different answer.What have you been focusing on lately to improve yourself or your
Sean Graham:business?Yeah.So,you know,I,I have been focusing on staying out of a,a reactionary type of mindset and day and really owning my time.Um,it's easy to wake up and just go and just react to that first email and jump in,right.React to that first phone call that first text or whatever it is,but.That's not how you move forward.That's not how you grow yourself.That's not how you expand or grow your business.Um,in order to do that,you have to really like plan out those things.So I have,I've been blocking off my time.In my calendar,right?Like,um,I heard somebody say the other day,it's like,you know,we,why,why do we just,uh,put interruptions on our calendar?Like,why not put those,you know,like revenue producing activities on our calendar,those,those growth activities on our calendar.So,uh,for me,it's been.It's been journaling,I've been journaling.Um,just like,I don't know if you've read the gap in the game,but just at night,right?Like my three daily wins and three,uh,wins that are gonna happen tomorrow.And then just setting a time aside time,like a couple hours a week for strategic planning,right.To sit down and.Get away from it all and just strategically plan on my business.Um,so those sort of things have become very important to me.Uh,cuz if you don't block off the time for it,it's just not gonna happen.Your calendar's gonna get filled up one way or another.It's it's a
Dave Morgia:challenge,man.It's a challenge.Uh,I think the thing I do at night is like,I,you talk about the time,like I know,like I,I do the whole like brain dump,like what do I gotta actually do tomorrow?And then I was like,okay,like what actually matters?And it's like those first two or three things like those or on the block first,like,okay,before I do anything else,like open the email,whatever it's like,let me hit those two things before I even touch the rest of it.You know,like if you can get
Sean Graham:through some things before even opening your computer right.Whether it's like journaling or strategic planning or anything,like man,get through those things and do those high level,like important growth type of things before you open it up.Cause once you open up that computer,even if it's to go to,you know,your,your,your notebook on your computer right down the rabbit,that email pops up,you know,put it down the rabbit,see it,and you have to react to,it happens all the time.So I really try to get through that stuff.Before jumping online.
Dave Morgia:Absolutely.Sean,we covered a lot,man.We,we hopped between the mindset stuff and the self storage stuff.I love both of it.So glad,glad to have you on impart that knowledge.Um,hope the listener got,you know,a ton out of it too.Uh,in case they do wanna reach out.You wanna let'em know how they can reach you
Sean Graham:today.Yeah.So the best way to reach me,it's probably,uh,over email.You can email me@seanmavenstorage.com.That's S E a N at M a V E N,storage.com.Um,and then we have a couple websites too.Maven storage.com.Another one's Maven equities.com.Maven storage is more on the,uh,the buying self storage side and Maven equities is more on the syndication,uh,side of things.But go ahead and do that.I can,I don't know if you put links in the bio or anything,but,um,I can throw you my calendar link too,and I'm happy.You know,schedule a time with anybody.And if you wanna reach out,just shoot me an email or book me a book,a calendar time and we'll talk,
Dave Morgia:Sean.Thanks again so much.
Sean Graham:Really appreciate it.Yeah.Thanks Dave.Looking forward to talking soon.