I'm not currently operating in MT, so don't worry, I'm not going to try to pitch you on my company, but I'd be happy to talk you through both sides of your options based on my 20 years in this industry niche.

Based on the price per sqft a builder gave me a duplex would be $280k and Triplex $420K roughly.

I think it's just the nature of this industry. 

Yes, The way it works is you can take out 80% LTV based on the purchase price and any repairs or receipts as a total.

 Where you’re based and where you invest (or plan to invest)- I'm based in Dallas, Tx where I was born an raised.

Done and done.If you realize that those above topics are pretty much everything about Self Storage AND you learn those three (precursory will work, in-depth is better), you've got all your bases covered.  

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If I'm in your shoes, I recommend chatting with some local investors (attend a few meetups) to get a good sense of whats possible and not based on others that have a similar W2 scenario as yours. 

It's a nice advantage that you have a background in property management but naturally the first step here is to keep saving, pay down some of your debts, and boost your credit score. 

We take this to mean (based on 100s of real tax court cases) any activities integral to the business of running a rental.