Storage Units & Other People’s Stuff

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So, Waterfall Asset Management… they’re buying into National Storage Affiliates. 297,700 shares. It’s not like they’re building a pyramid scheme, but it feels…adjacent. Like they’re betting on other people’s inability to downsize. Honestly, the whole concept of self-storage is a little disturbing. All that…stuff. What is all that stuff? And why are people paying monthly to keep it hidden away? It’s a symptom, I tell you. A societal symptom. But okay, fine, they’re buying shares. $8.42 million worth. As if that’s going to solve anything.

Apparently, this is a “new position” for Waterfall. 4.53% of their “reportable AUM.” AUM. As if anyone actually understands what that means. It’s just financial jargon designed to make people feel inadequate. They also happen to hold a bunch of other things, like CPT, AVB, APLE… it’s just a string of letters, really. Like a ransom note. $11.80 million in CPT. What is CPT? I looked it up. Healthcare Trust of America. Okay, great. More things I don’t understand. They have $10.49 million in APLE. Apple Hospitality REIT. So they’re betting on hotels and people’s junk? It’s a diversified portfolio of… anxiety.

As of February 12th, National Storage Affiliates shares were at $33.05. Thirty-three dollars and five cents. It’s a strangely specific number. Like someone just… picked it. They probably had a meeting. “Okay, what should the price be?” “Thirty-three oh five.” “Perfect.”

Let’s talk about National Storage Affiliates. They’re a “leading self-storage REIT.” REIT. Another one of those acronyms. They have revenue of $741.51 million. That’s a lot of…stuff. Net income of $47.12 million. Dividend yield of 6.51%. They’re basically profiting off other people’s hoarding. And the market is rewarding them for it. It’s… upsetting. They operate in the top 100 U.S. metro areas. So they’re everywhere. They’re watching you. They’re waiting for you to accumulate more stuff.

They have this “Participating Regional Operator” model. It sounds… complicated. Apparently, local operators keep equity. Equity! It’s like a feudal system, but with storage units. “This is my storage unit. I earned it.” It’s probably a nightmare to manage. Too many cooks, too many opinions, too much… stuff. They claim it helps with local deals and management. But it sounds like a recipe for disaster. A slow-motion, storage-unit-filled disaster.

The pandemic was good for them, of course. Everyone was moving, downsizing, or just…avoiding dealing with their lives. Now, things are slowing down. Which is good. Maybe people will finally start getting rid of things. But then they have competition. And new supply. It’s a delicate balance. Like Jenga, but with… you guessed it… stuff. They adjust prices monthly. Which is predatory, frankly. Taking advantage of people’s emotional attachment to… well, everything.

So, will National Storage Affiliates keep growing? It depends. Can they keep filling those units? Can they acquire new properties at reasonable prices? With interest rates going up, that’s a big question. It’s all about finding the right balance. Between expansion and profitability. Between local control and capital discipline. And, of course, between people’s desire to accumulate possessions and their ability to actually get rid of them. It’s exhausting just thinking about it. Frankly, I need a storage unit just to store my anxiety about storage units.

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2026-03-01 03:43