As long as you don't fear climate change impacts, Florida is probably fine and buys today will probably work out great over the decades.

That is what our team at Rent To Retirement has been helping investors do for a decade now BP. 

Gurus are just following their fulfillment companies play book its all based in MLM from decades past same presentations same tugging at heartstrings  exact same terminologies etc.

You are not crazy :) cap rates on storage got pretty crazy in the last decade as the space has become crowded and money was cheap, starting to see some reversal of that now, but its tough to find deals at a true 10 cap (10 x NOI or NOI / .10).

In Sacramento county you can access the county clerk recorder website (http://www.ccr.saccounty.net/Pages/e-ROSI.aspx) You can perform search by party name and/or decade, year or date which includes Deed of Trust, Reconveyance, Grant Deed, Judgment, which are document titles against party name that also includes book numbers (19941221) and page (0045) Again property address is not published.But this search won't help you with probate leads unless decedant (likely) had proerty.

Detroit's population is actually growing according to recent surveys not shrinking Census Bureau estimates: Detroit population rises after decades of decline, South dominates growth (michiganpublic.org)2. 

It's one simple fact, this is what I do, every day, FT, for years, decades.

When you buy real estate think in decades not years.

(DFW this past decade is a good example.) 

But that benevolent cycle, which is about a couple decades old, means that lots of neighborhoods are up and coming after being down and out for decades.