10 Steps to Hitting $1M as a Real Estate Developer (Even If You're Starting From $0)
Here's the blueprint that worked for me
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I get a ton of questions about how to start developing real estate, specifically luxury storage.
Here's the truth: Development isn't easy. But with the right roadmap, you can go from zero to your first successful project. And then from your first successful project to your first $1 million.
Ready?
Here’s my 10-step blueprint:
1. Find Your Land
For luxury storage, you won't find us near McDonald's in downtown Dallas. We target suburban markets because luxury storage can only be on one level — we're limited in how much we can pay per square foot.
Our efficiency ranges from 25-40%. Look for land that's been sitting on the market. In today's market, landowners might even contribute part of the land to get the project moving.
2. Know Your Build Costs
You need someone experienced in storage construction — multifamily builders won't cut it, and vice versa. Get hard numbers:
Cost per square foot.
Total cost for your building size.
Construction timeline estimates.
You want to figure out A) how much you can build on your lot and B) how much it’s going to cost. Simple numbers — but they need to be calculated correctly.
3. Create Your Business Plan
Map out:
Build timeline.
Lease-up period.
Expected demand.
Market rental rates.
This is where you'll calculate your soft costs — everything beyond construction. Build a solid pro forma (fancy spreadsheet) showing:
Income projections
Net Operating Income (NOI)
Operating expenses (we use about 32% as our baseline for luxury storage)
4. Get Your Financing
Take your NOI and figure out how much debt the project can support. As an estimate, you can usually support about $75-80K in debt per $100K of NOI.
Today's rates? Expect about ~300 basis points over the 10-year treasury. With the treasury at 4.3%, you're looking at around 7.25%.
Most storage deals work in 25-year amortization range. Run these numbers before you waste time. If the math doesn't work, the project won't either.
5. Execute Like You Mean It
Stay on schedule or ahead of it. It's easy to fall 2-3 weeks behind, but incredibly hard to make that time up.
I've been in construction for 30 years (since I was 6). Trust me — falling behind kills projects fast.
6 Nail Your Lease-Up
If you're planning to scale, don't do the lease-up yourself. Hire it out. Time is money — a 3-year lease-up when you projected 12 months will sink you.
We start with lower rents, then slowly climb them up over time. Remember — with storage, you can raise rents every 30 days. Our leases are only 30 days, and tenants in luxury storage tend to be sticky even with increased rents.
7. Market Smart
Start marketing at 50% construction completion. Don't wait for ribbon-cutting day.
Use:
Google ads.
Social media.
On-site banners.
Targeted marketing.
Agencies can be expensive and might not make sense unless they’re experts in your niche. Virtual assistants can help with campaigns and data tracking.
8. Run Tight Operations
Watch for common issues:
Door and lock systems (avoid keys, too many problems pop up)
People trying to live in units (yes, it happens — I once had 17 people living in storage units)
You never know exactly what you’re going to run into, but you can at least prepare for how you’ll respond to some of the common headaches.
Talk about how many units you’re leasing up each week, what your gain is each week, what your rent occupancy rate is climbing at, how many leads you’re getting a day… Track everything. Be a nerd about this stuff. Storage is not set-it and forget-it.
9. Push Your Occupancy
Hit 100%? Great. Raise your rates. Your goal is to get your revenue as high as possible so you can make your investors as much money as possible.
The sweet spot is around 90% occupancy. This lets you:
- Push out price-sensitive tenants.
- Bring in higher-paying ones.
- Keep long-term quality tenants.
10. Take Care of Investors
This is the fun part — distributions. Remember, the bank gets paid first. Then, your investors. Give your investors a preferred return — earn their trust. Investors might like your business model, but most investors I’ve worked with are in the deal because they trust me. That’s true of most people in real estate.
Make sure you’re pushing out distributions and keeping your investors updated.
Development isn't for everyone. But if you follow this blueprint and execute well, you can build something significant.
I started with concrete work, went into construction, and now develop luxury storage across multiple markets. The path is there if you're ready to take it.
Questions? Drop them in the comments. I'd love to hear what's holding you back from starting your development journey.
Hey Marc, thanks for your content and insight! In your experience, where is the best place to find a reliable virtual assistant? Thanks!