Initially, my family and I lived in this house for a couple years before deciding to rent it out, anticipating a market recovery from the 2008-2012ish recession.

The market did that 8 years post recession aggressively, and it's only gotten tighter & harder now.Sure you can get "creative" and all that ****, but I wonder if people are kidding themselves when they mention about making $200/mo cash flow-- it's wiped out with their water heater needing to be replaced or just a tenant turn.

As long as the country doesn't go into a long drawn out recession, I think that will continue.

All of those things, unfortunately, increase during a recession, providing a safer base case for self-storage than some other assets.

- Is it worth hiring someone to put in recessed lighting or should I stick with current electrical and just put in LED bulbs? 

Even if there is a crash, and people downsize, those people will have a need for self-storage, as evidenced by storage occupancy rates during past recessions. 

For someone that's not as conservative, or a different view on the cycle, they might have a different opinion than me on all of this.2) Sponsor quality check: (takes about 45 minutes per deal)I believe that a great sponsor can take an average looking deal and make it great, and that in mediocre sponsor can take a fantastic looking deal and make it bad (especially if there is a severe recession).

That line is almost as comical as STRs are recession proof.  

Every recession is going to be different. 

This is why the dreaded recession is often talked about, it usually portends high unemployment, which is an economic killer.