Reliant Real Estate Management

I invested $50K in Reliant Self Storage Fund III (Class C) in early 2022. The fund targeted a $100M raise across 30 self-storage properties in secondary and tertiary markets — primarily Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, and Alabama. The thesis was value-add: acquire existing facilities, add climate-controlled units, push rents, and exit at a 5.25% cap rate over a 6-year hold. Projected returns were 12–15% annualized with an 8% preferred return and a 70/30 investor/manager split. Before investing, I spoke with the Reliant team multiple times, reviewed their track record (33.8% average IRR across 38 exited properties, 2.57x average equity multiple), and talked to two LPs who had been in Funds I and II. Fund I had realized a 1.64x multiple in under two years. The numbers checked out, and the operator had a decade of self-storage experience as the 27th largest operator in the U.S. Here's what happened: we went in at a 3.12% going-in cap rate on a portfolio of ~19,300 units across 30 properties with 65–70% leverage. When capital was cheap in 2021, everyone and their brother started building self-storage. The supply wave hit our target markets hard. We are nowhere near our target occupancy on most of the portfolio, and the planned expansions — the core of the value-add thesis — haven't started on almost any of the facilities. The fund projected 4–7% annual cash-on-cash during the hold period, and we're well below that. Communication has been solid throughout — monthly updates, financials, photos, and the team is accessible. I don't question the operator's competence. If you look at their other funds, they're performing. I just got caught in the wrong vintage. When money was cheap, too much supply flooded the market, and that's something I didn't underwrite properly. Lesson for other LPs: I didn't model supply risk seriously enough. I looked at the operator's track record, the pref, the leverage — all the standard diligence. What I missed was how much new self-storage inventory was being built in our target MSAs during the same period. If you're evaluating a value-add self-storage deal, the single most important question is: how much competitive supply is under construction or permitted within a 5-mile radius? I would invest with Reliant again in a different market cycle. This one just hurt.