AJ Osborne has been investing in self-storage since 2004, and in that time he has developed a finely calibrated map of the American real estate landscape — one that looks nothing like the conventional wisdom that equates safety with size. As CEO of Cedar Creek Capital, Osborne oversees a portfolio spanning roughly 12 states, from Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth to Iowa, Oklahoma and the Pacific Northwest. His specialty is secondary markets, and his track record there, he says, is where a majority of his wealth has been built.
“Secondary markets — that’s actually where we really broke out,” Osborne says.
He got his start in small tertiary markets early in his career but shifted hard into growing second-tier cities after the 2008 financial crisis. Places like Spokane, Wash.; Boise, Idaho; Reno, Nev.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Denver became his proving ground.
His approach, though, is not simply to find a growing mid-size market and move in. Timing is everything.
