It's layered, which in many ways isn't simple, but it does make it much easier to do my taxes at the end of the year because of this layering.

•When I am doing ______ I feel most productive and excited about the work I'm doingThats a very simple view but I believe perhaps if you start with those 3 questions you may be able to work backward into what opportunities for a career in real estate may suit you for the long run!

That could be as simple as adding a couple large strips of electric baseboard in the downstairs to provide heat in an emergency.

Are there Hard Money Lenders that still do Gap Loans with simple underwriting and low origination fees?

Most REI's I've met are very generous people in terms of sharing their knowledge and contacts.In terms of the local market, there are websites that help you find good areas to invest in and you can get a simple analysis from Redfin like this: https://www.redfin.com/city/16661/MO/St-Louis/housing-marketBut, I think a lot of cities like mine probably have a ton of nuance in terms of everything that goes into understanding the local market street by street.

Overall the concept of Self Storage is fairly simple & straightforward nationwide, but the specifics do indeed differ state to state.But also, please peruse the current lease the Seller is using - at least you'll know what they've agreed to with the current tenants and vice versa. 

Keep it simple.

From a bookkeeping standpoint, this makes everything a lot easier as long as each financial account is used the way it is supposed to be used (no commingling).I would just caution you to think about the functionality of that structure within your day-to-day business operations before pulling the trigger on it.Make sure you're keeping things as simple and efficient as possible.

Simple math tells me that 7% on a $100k loan is $7,000 in interest every year. $7k x 15 months is $105,000.

One last point: If there is a higher tenant to bathroom ratio, a simple dry erase "shower schedule" on the back of a bathroom door can work wonders.