There isn't much I can add here except for the local expertise of the Boise area and our sister company property management team get these inquires often from tenants - so we have seen many ways how not to inquire about it and a few good ways haha.

Nevertheless I am local now and I have that real estate desire (which never went away).

Follow the local licensing and disclosure laws.

., but there’s some good news for renters: local rents have dropped to a 3-year low, with decreases of up to $200.

Find and attend your local REI groups. 

Go to BUILD YOUR TEAM at the top of the screen and look for local investors or meetups in your area.

So going to attempt something more local first. :)We definitely want to invest in true vacation rentals as well but this will be a good learning process with not as much risk to start.  

@Jennie Berger gave you the whole kit & caboodle on Chicago zoning so I don't have a ton to ad, however, I'd highly encourage you to engage an architect like @Samuel Pavlovcik or @Prashanth Mahakali, both are awesome local Chicago resources.

@Luke Spencer I am not on the management side but I can tell you it took 2+ years to fill 300 units at one of our facilities and the other just hit 300 units in 12/13 months so it really depends on the demographics, and local housing market trend, the more people moving in and out the higher the demand for storage.I think if you're looking at a saturated market then the upfront cash to turn the warehouse into self storage is not a good idea but then again, maybe those operators are on back roads ( low visibility ) and don't push google ads well.

More relationship underwriting with local banks.7% interest, 25yr am, 20% downEasier to scale, easier to manage.