In fact we have a 3-Day Developer's Academy that we conduct once a year, most recently this past summer 2018.Please feel free to PM me and I'll give you some quick insight as to a high-level approach (as in the 30,000 foot view) to what you realistically need to do to determine if it's feasible and how to do some financial forecasting on the "back of a napkin" to see if it makes sense to move forward.Please note that Developing a Self Storage Facility from the ground up can certainly be lucrative. 

Find an MSA/city you want to invest in, then reach out to local boots on the ground (local investors, brokers, property managers) to determine the best neighborhoods and streets within those neighborhoods1a.

Your budget will help determine what areas are available and what kind of properties will be available.

Who pays the repair cost should be determined by both the extent of damage and whether or not the tenant caused it (i.e. if the tenant punched a hole in the wall, they should cover the cost of repair).

There is no short cut in determining value. 

My present company doesn't charge for that, but then charges me to inspect the unit to determine if the deposit should be returned and if now how much is kept.

Not sure if there are any contractors in your area, but they are on the Internet.

The property being auctioned is padlocked and we can’t determine if it’s vacated or not (windows are quite dirty and there’s a high fence).

So many people come away from reading on the internet and think "The 401k is better. 

I'm having issues trying to determine what my ARV would be after renovations to determine if the numbers look right.