Hey [FIRSTNAME],

Public Storage, CubeSmart, and National Storage Affiliates just held their Q3 earnings calls.

And buried in the corporate speak was a confession that should scare every storage operator in the country.

They’re pricing new tenant rates 35-40% below existing tenants just to maintain occupancy.

Read that again.

The largest, most sophisticated operators in the industry – companies with billion-dollar war chests and revenue management AI – are slashing prices by nearly HALF just to keep units filled.

National Storage Affiliates’ occupancy dropped 240 basis points year-over-year.

Public Storage is sitting at 91.5% occupancy (down from last year).

CubeSmart is at 89.7%.

These aren’t struggling mom-and-pops. These are the companies that are supposed to be bulletproof.

Here’s why this matters for you:

When the REITs start a price war, everyone loses.

They have the capital to bleed for quarters while they undercut the market. You don’t.

They’re using those 35-40% discounts to steal tenants from smaller operators. And once those tenants are in at discounted rates, they’re locking in below-market pricing for months or years.

But…

This isn’t happening everywhere.

Markets with oversupply (Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Phoenix) are getting destroyed. Atlanta street rates dropped 15.1% year-over-year.

But Florida is still performing. Their cap rates are sitting at 2.95%, and prices are holding steady.

The lesson is brutal but clear:

Geography now determines whether you survive or get crushed.

If you’re in an oversupplied market competing against REITs in a price war, you’re fighting a battle you can’t win.

But if you’re invested in supply-constrained markets with strong fundamentals, you can still charge premium rates while everyone else races to the bottom.

The operators who win over the next 18 months won’t necessarily be the ones with the best facilities.

They’ll be the ones who understood that location just became 10X more important than it was two years ago.

And the ones who positioned themselves in the right markets before this pricing bloodbath accelerated.

Where’s your facility located?

Here’s to your success,

Cody

P.S. If you’re looking at acquisitions right now, market selection is everything. The financing strategies that work in supply-constrained markets are completely different from oversupplied ones. Get the complete breakdown in Storage Financing Secrets, and make sure your next property is a slam dunk.