State of Capital Markets 2023

And finally, investment sales. What's going on with buyers, sellers and pricing? Now the volatility of the capital markets really slowed down transaction volume in Q4 of last year, but we're starting to pick up steam now and we really expect that momentum to continue over the next 6 to 12 months. Currently, we've got a solid pipeline of listings and deals under contract. We've also closed out several properties already this year. It might not be quite as robust as 2021 and 2022, but it's still actually a lot higher than even we anticipated. Similar to interest rates, pricing for storage properties right now is all across the board and harder than ever to nail down. But fortunately, buyers are still very forward looking in their projections, their underwriting and their offers just not being quite as aggressive as they were on rental rate growth and expansion opportunities.

The buyer pool hasn't shrunk that much either, but there's a definite decline of inventory of sellable deals, so that's helping keep prices at very attractive levels for sellers as well. Speaking of sellers, we're really focused on two types right now: There are those with a real motivation, those who are willing to meet today's pricing, oftentimes because they've got either retirement coming up, maybe some partnership issues or just other opportunities that they'd like to explore. And we're also seeing a lot of sellers who are willing to get creative either through owner financing or some kind of retained equity structure. Now, all of these have their own pros and cons, but we've seen them be really beneficial for our clients because in most cases you're getting a liquidity event, so you've got some cash on hand to go do some other things. You also have a steady income stream. You've got some recurring cash flow. Capital gains are oftentimes broken up throughout a number of years instead of paid all at once. And you just have fewer day to day managerial responsibilities, so you've got more time to go do other things. So, we certainly understand that everyone's situation is unique. Everyone has different goals and strategies.

And we just want to hear from you. We want to learn what it is that you're trying to accomplish and find a way that we can work together to help you out.