“For our first SBA 504 loan, Live Oak Bank recommended TMC Financing as our financing partner,” explains Wayde Elliott, DMD, owner of StoreIT, a growing self-storage business based in Oregon. “And when we were ready for a second SBA 504 for our newest location, I didn’t hesitate to work with TMC and Live Oak again.”
Here’s how Wayde secured two SBA 504 loans to purchase and develop state-of-the-industry self-storage locations, including the purchase of raw land and construction.
A life-changing event leads to a new and profitable line of work
As Wayde tells about his pivot from dentistry to self-storage development, things changed in a moment due to an injury. Always curious and focused on great care, Wayde took an interest in his patients, including one who had tremendous entrepreneurial insight to share about his experiences with self-storage facilities.
Wayde says, “I was intrigued and without a solid ‘Plan B’ after the injury, I decided to pursue my curiosity. I was fortunate to work on a self-storage project developed in St. Helens, Oregon. I learned so much and, as an entrepreneur, I could see that the return on investment could be incredible. I knew then that self-storage development was the field that I’d pursue.”
StoreIT’s first location opened in 2009 and as Wayde and his team gained experience in facility development, StoreIT offered its services to help others develop their own facilities, too. Moving forward, StoreIT is realigning its business goals to focus on developing its own locations.
Securing SBA 504 loans for growth
For commercial real estate development projects for self-storage facilities, the down payment for the SBA 504 loan is just 10%. This makes projects more feasible than the 30-40% or more required for conventional commercial mortgages. The loans also include a fixed competitive interest rate for the life of the loan and a 25-year repayment term, so monthly payments are predictable and, often, less than the cost of leasing.
StoreIT’s first project with TMC and Live Oak was a storage-facility purchase in Porterville, CA. The second project, in Woodburn, OR, was ground-up development that included purchase of a 12.5-acre parcel and construction of 795 units, including covered spaces for RVs and boats.
Wayde says, “The SBA 504 loan program is exceptional for self-storage facilities. Real estate development is capital intensive and the SBA 504 gives you the option to scale more efficiently and effectively. The low down-payment and 25-year term mean that you can keep more capital on-hand to invest further in your business and grow.”
TMC Business Development Officer, Jim Azevedo worked with Wayde and the StoreIT team on both projects. Wayde credits him, as well as StoreIT’s Integrator, Valyrie German, for making the process easy.
“Projects like ours are complex and there’s a lot of information and documentation needed,” Wayde says. “Jim was outstanding for both loans. He’s super-knowledgeable, just a wealth of information, and knowing that TMC was available to help at every point was huge. And when you get SBA 504 financing, that’s a great validation of your business, because there’s so much due-diligence by the lenders.”
Jim Azevedo says, “It’s always a pleasure to help entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Wayde has a great vision for his business and he values the partnership that we’ve developed, and that’s truly special. We’re happy that TMC could finance two SBA 504 loans for StoreIT and we hope to work together again as the business continues to grow.”
StoreIT’s business model is proving both needed and profitable.
“To date, we’ve developed nine facilities with 4,555 units,” Wayde says. “Several are ground-up projects, but we also do conversions. Among the abandoned locations we’ve converted to self-storage are a lumberyard, a hazelnut-processing facility, and a newspaper facility. It’s great to take a non-performing property and make it into something useful, attractive, and secure for a community.”
TMC Financing can help you achieve your entrepreneurial dreams
About returning to TMC and Live Oak, Wayde says that it fits into his company’s core values. “The loan experience was excellent the first time around and when you have great people on your team, you support each other.”
We can help you, too. To learn more, contact TMC Financing today.
About TMC Financing
Founded in 1981, TMC Financing is the leading provider of SBA 504 commercial real estate loans in the nation, funding projects worth over $14 billion across Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon. Over 7,000 businesses have benefited from this financing, resulting in the creation of an estimated 60,000 jobs.