I never bothered to try talking to a lender because my credit score isn’t great and I’m self-employed.

Let them know that you're unhappy with them and see if the two of you can right the ship together and if not then self-manage or find a new PM.

It's technically avoidant of advertising or self-promotion, but it always is blatant self-promotion opportunity.

The only way around this is to be doing land lording WRONG, a self-inflicted injury. 

The policy below would be twice as high if we used our Personal insurer since they don't have the experience mods for Self-Storage.G. 

Coghill they are trying to take care of several things:1) Approval to access credit reportsA video tour of my home office (required by the credit repository to show security, so access to office & computers is limited to avoid data theft)Credit checks on me and my partner (required by the credit repository to make sure you are not criminals looking to steal others' data)Copies of the deeds for every property we own (required by the credit repository to confirm you aren't just self-serving)A copy of my partner’s home lease and utility bills (required by the credit repository to prove his legal address, so they can pursue him criminally if he steals data)Business phone bills (required by the credit repository to prove an actual business)2) Approval to use banking ACH system to accept tenant payments and pay ownersBusiness phone bills (required by banking industry to prove business legitimacy)A signed letter from the bank verifying our accounts (to prove legitimate business banking accounts.

Without accounting for management fees (I have not yet decided if I will try to self manage), and with planning to raise rents to typical market of $825 for each of the smaller units, and $1200 for the larger unit, does this seem like a worthy first investment? 

Where is vacancy, maintenance/cap ex, asset protection, PM (include it even if self managing as you deserve to be compensated for your efforts), utilities, misc.  

Also deleting duplicate posts, not sure how you could make it so duplicates self delete or don't post for those of us with tech challenges....

@Jonathan Vinas Operating a self-managed STR in North NJ or the Catskills is feasible with careful planning.