Achieving a repeatable self-storage model with RH2 Capital
May 10, 2024
Rex and Riker Huddleston, the brothers behind RH2 Capital, are known as some of the brightest young minds in self-storage. They started their entrepreneurial journey in real estate asset management and logistics, respectively.
As Rex spent his early career analyzing deals across asset classes, he was struck by the fundamentals he saw in self-storage. He honed his skills on the day job and put together enough capital to hunt for his first facility. Zeroing in first on Sherman, TX, he found a market benefitting from Dallas' explosive growth. Still, it was just far enough away that he felt he could acquire a number of facilities in the area before larger operators discovered the market's strong fundamentals. He and Riker recognized there were efficiencies to be gained operating a hub & spoke model in secondary markets like Sherman and finally jumped in with the purchase of their first facility.
Riker left his career path in logistics to take over management of the facility. He was young and unafraid of learning on the job, which is exactly what he did. He swept units and cleaned up the facility. He figured out how to install gate hardware in 110 degree heat. As Rex put together another deal, and then another, Riker was carrying a larger and larger management load in Sherman. Facility acquisitions continued to pile up in Sherman and other new markets. While RH2 navigated the end of the COVID era self-storage demand sugar-high, Riker was managing a growing portfolio with a small team.
One facility in particular was bought at less than 50% occupancy and the brothers couldn't seem to get it leased to a stabilized level. Then a few REITs opened multi-story structures in Sherman. They were concerned about their ability to drive occupancy and revenue for their investors as they entered a new phase of their now significant business.
The brothers heard about Cubby from a few early advocates in chat groups and on social media. When Cubby called, they took an exploratory demo and came away impressed. With their focus on lease-up and driving investor returns, they decided switching to Cubby would result in a higher likelihood of success than sticking with the status quo they experienced on their previous systems.
"The Cubby team went above and beyond to set us up for success. Their team is so organized and productive I felt like they had an army of robots behind the scenes. They even helped us with things way outside of their responsibilities - they were focused on making us successful, not just implementing the software."
-Riker Huddleston
They were surprised by the ease of the onboarding process Cubby delivered. Once up and running, the new online storefront started working for them. Their "problem child" facility went from less than 50% occupancy to 80%+ in a few months.
"Online leases used to be a rarity. They were a celebratory thing. Now I get notifications all the time alerting me to customers renting online."
-Rex Huddleston
Additionally, their call center could quickly follow up on leads, closing more phone rentals in their first 4 months on the platform than they had in the previous 6, even as demand for self-storage waned nationally.
With some of the pressure taken off leasing, Riker could leverage Cubby's management platform to better manage tenants and receivables. RH2 receivables fell by 9% in their first 4 months on Cubby.
It wasn't seamless of course, once live the brothers recognized Cubby was forcing multi-unit renters to pay for units individually. They flagged this to the Cubby team as a problem for their operation, which served many tenants renting multiple units. But in less than two months Cubby had shipped a revamped tenant portal system that accommodated multiple leases.
"We always say, if we tell our investors we're going to do something, we're going to make sure we do it. We found the same thing with Cubby. If they said they were going to do it, they did it. Their roadmap has been delivered on consistently, with a few bonus features to top it off. They've been A+."
-Rex Huddleston
Today, RH2 Capital is equipped with an enviable business model that ensures their costs are low, their digital presence is strong, and their operational capabilities across multiple facilities in a market are repeatable. They're ready to scale, ready to win, and ready now.