I am just trying to explore alternative avenues of income and have not heard much about something like this. 

Tons of big windows and natural light.

Take natural disasters into account (more hesitant to invest in areas were theres lots of hurricanes, tornados, fires, etc.)CURRENTLY, i've weeded it down to about 20 states Im curious to know how others conduct their research to build strong bias for a specific market.

Like other said escrow account is a good alternative to protect you from commingling or conversion of funds. 

Bank statement or 12 month CPA programs can be a good alternative.

I talk with people every day that have plans with custodians that do not allow for investments into alternative assets.

Its this little pocket tucked away by a nature preserve.

Only real way to do it is to look at comparables....but those are hard to come buy given the highly LOCAL nature of storage...ie- you can't take one from too far away and rarely do multiple sell close enough to one another to be overly revealing. 

Here is another alternative, and a good article to read.

Going FHA is kinda the same deal as VA as far as being a bit taboo in this market with sellers, so the alternative for a 3-4 unit property is putting 20% down with a conventional loan thru Freddie Mac.