I know 2 that no 2 recessions are the same and there are a wide variety of opinions. 

All those are great books to start with, but consider rick dad poor dad as a very broad and widely applicable book on the concept of buying assets. 

I do the research though instead of watching tv.Can you build on 25 ft wide lots there? 

Zero, you can do that yourself unless you are spread out over a wide geographic area

@Farrukh Madaminov Rent default insurance is widely available abroad in the UK and Australia and is just now catching on here in the US.Eviction process varies by state. 

But when I search nation-wide I see banks with 2.2% and higher.

Here you'll find a vast array of knowledge from experts leading their local markets.

Just like any new endeavor you're going to want to go into eyes wide open and learn as much as you can beforehand.Please look up investing in Self Storage on the internet - lots of articles, videos, etc., or PM me.Best of luck to you!

@Hunter Waterman I've found that for banks that hold onto their loans (portfolio), they vary widely in their policies and suspect you can find one that will do a HELOC on top of an existing 1st mortgage from another bank - though whether you like their max LTV (i.e., maximum allowable LOC) is another question entirely.If you're going with a more traditional bank / institutional loan that likely resells the loan on the secondary market, you'll have a much harder time doing anything creative or "outside the box".

Quick second sidebar, since AZ property info is so open and widely available, I invested in a UPS Store mailbox for a "real street address" years ago.