I'd recommend you start at the oldest posts and work forward as they will walk you through the nuts and bolts of storage investing!

Today i cant drive past an apartment building without trying to see the deal that lies within, i will pull off the highway if i spot a building i haven't seen before (drives my wife nuts) i keep a camera and a note pad in our vehicles.As @Joe Villeneuve alluded to above come up with a plan on what kind of investor you want to be, and work that plan tweaking it as you go and keep moving forward, everything else will start falling into place. 

Like nuts and bolts or philosophy or practice?

I recommend you start with the older articles first as they focus more exclusively on nuts and bolts storage stuff: https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3915-all-things-self-storage

Really just seeking people who can share ideas and for fruitful relationships in REI.

This seems nuts to me...is there anything I can do here?

So the biggest bang for your buck is 5% down bracket since putting 10% down only gives you .25 less fee.Just make sure your lender walks you through the nuts and bolts of how to use VA strategically and the pros and cons of each stage. 

I had been considering it, but they have owners by the nut sack and are tightening the clamps.They are being charitable with the homeowner’s money; with theirs not so much.

Seeing as the economy is cyclical and we certainly aren’t at the bottom I’d be nuts to proceed with a deal like that. 

@Dan Wentworth Judges can be nuts.