How to Determine the Right Offer Range for Any Self-Storage Deal

At StorageLife, our goal is to make self-storage investing accessible and achievable for everyone. One of the most important—but often misunderstood—aspects of closing a deal is knowing how to craft the right offer. It's easy to overthink it or freeze up when it's time to talk numbers. But if you understand how to present an offer range the right way, you’ll open doors, build trust with sellers, and get more contracts signed.

In this guide, we’ll break down the "Offer Range Strategy"—a simple, effective way to negotiate deals in self-storage as an investment, whether you're brand new or closing your tenth facility.

Why a Single Offer Number Can Kill the Deal

Let’s start with what not to do. If you give a seller one firm number, it can backfire in two ways:

1. Too low and you offend them.

2. Too high and you overpay or lose credibility.

   
   

Either way, it turns into a "yes or no" situation—and more often than not, it’s a no.

That’s why at StorageLife, we teach our self-storage mentorship students to use an offer range instead. This strategy opens the door to a conversation. It gives you flexibility while still showing the seller you're serious.

It’s a method we’ve used in everything from single-family homes to large self-storage syndication deals. And it works consistently.

The Power of the Offer Range

So what is an offer range? It's exactly what it sounds like: instead of presenting a firm number, you present a range of possible values based on your underwriting.

Example: "Based on your facility’s numbers, we see the value somewhere between $3.2M and $3.8M. Does that feel like we're in the ballpark?"

This simple shift turns a hard "no" into a real conversation. It disarms the seller. And most importantly, it lets you gather more information.

We often use a 7 and 9 cap calculator to estimate the offer range, based on gross revenue. If you're not sure how to use that, check out our self-storage investing course—we walk through it in detail.

Real-World Example: A Savvy 81-Year-Old Owner

Let’s walk through a real example that proves the point.

We were speaking with an 81-year-old seller who owned a facility outright. He’d been in the business for decades and made it clear upfront: "I’m not telling you what I want. I’ve done this before. It’s either your price on my terms or my price on your terms."

Tough negotiator. We asked for basic financials, and he resisted. But after building some rapport and being respectful, we got him to share the gross revenue of the facility over the phone.

Immediately, our partner plugged that into the 7 and 9 cap calculator and sent us the estimated range: around $3M to $4M.

So we said, "Hey, based on what you just told us, we think the facility is worth somewhere between $3M and $4M. Are we in the right zone?"

He paused. Then he said: "You’re pretty close. It definitely needs a 4 in front of it."

Boom. In five minutes, the same seller who refused to give us a number just told us what he wanted. That’s the power of the offer range.

Why Sellers Respond to Ranges

This method works because it shows you’ve done your homework. When you say, "Based on your revenue, we estimate between $X and $Y," you're not lowballing. You're demonstrating analysis.

That builds trust.

And by anchoring the range to a cap rate, you’re leaning on standard industry benchmarks—not just throwing out numbers. If you're not sure what a fair cap rate is for your market, check out our self-storage cap rate by state guide—it’s a free resource we give to everyone in our self-storage mentorship community.

How to Use This Strategy

Here’s a simple script you can use when speaking with a seller:

"Hey [Seller Name], based on what you've shared, we ran your gross revenue through our analysis and came up with a range of value between $X and $Y. That’s assuming a cap rate between 7 and 9, which is standard for this area. Are we in the right neighborhood?"

That opens the door. Then you listen.

From there, you can dial in your self-storage return on investment expectations and decide how to proceed.

Why We Train VAs and Students to Use This

We give this tool not just to experienced operators, but also to our VAs and self-storage mentor students who are new to the space. It empowers them to talk to owners with confidence—even if they’re not ready to make a hard offer yet.

And it works especially well for off-market deals. If you’re using a self-storage marketing letter or cold calling, offering a range makes it easier to keep the conversation alive.

When to Use the Finder’s Fee Instead

Sometimes, you may just want to wholesale the self-storage deal. In that case, you can use the offer range to gauge interest, then pass the deal to a capital partner or operator for a finder’s fee—often 3-5%.

We teach this strategy in our self-storage mastermind, especially for students who are strong at finding deals but not ready to operate yet.

Key Tools to Have Ready

If you want to get good at using the offer range strategy, you need a few key tools:

• A self-storage broker list to compare market comps

• A simple calculator or spreadsheet to run 7 and 9 cap valuations

• A basic understanding of how to extract NOI from gross revenue

• Confidence to speak to sellers and build rapport quickly

If you don’t have those yet, we cover all of it in our how to analyze a self-storage deal training.

Final Thoughts: Use the Range, Close More Deals

Whether you’re learning how to invest in self-storage or scaling to your next facility, mastering the offer range technique will give you an edge. It’s the secret weapon behind many of our successful deals here at StorageLife.

If you’re serious about learning how to buy a self-storage facility, start by mastering the art of the conversation. Use a range, build trust, and listen closely.

The right offer is the one that keeps the deal alive. That’s how you win in self-storage investing.

Want to Learn More?

If you’re looking to go deeper, StorageLife offers a full suite of resources:

• Our self-storage investing course that walks you through every step of the process

• One-on-one self-storage mentorship with experienced investors

• Our private self-storage mastermind for networking and deal review

• Tools to help you avoid the common risks of self-storage investing

We’ve helped dozens of people learn how to start a self-storage business from scratch. You don’t need to be an expert. You just need the right guidance.

Let’s get your first (or next) deal done—together.