Starting with commercial 1st

[Gere W.]

Hello, new to real estate. In looking at properties, storage units seem like a great investment. About same price as houses and even multifamily for smaller storage businesses. I'm looking to buy one for less than $150k. Seems like a better option: no plumbing, not much repair costs, no evictions, easier screening process, no electrical generally, etc.

Opinions on starting with one as first property? 

Come June 11th, I'll only have around $15k saved up. That's literally all of my money to my name saved up. 

What are general % of down payments required for commercial? 20%, 25%? I'm assuming I can only get a commercial loan, correct? 

How do you calculate things like property taxes, expenses, but especially cost of the mortgage/loan? Besides just trusting the owner, which is foolish. I basically want to figure out how much all of my costs will be: loan payment, property tax, insurance, pmi if I can pay less than 20%, etc but I'm not sure where to start. I read in the BP beginner guide book how commercial loans tend to be shorter terms, higher rates and fees, amortized over 25 yrs, but only fixed for 3-7 yrs then variable after 5-10 yrs. But also says commercial lenders can structure loans how they want, changing down payments, rates, fees, etc. 

With so many variables, I can't even begin to estimate my monthly expenses, so I'm not sure how to calculate a deal or if it's worth it or not. 

I can see why commercial can be difficult, but the returns seem more profitable. Little more complicated, but once I'm educated on the topic and understand it well, perhaps it's a great option. Thoughts?