They are emotionally attached to the property and having trouble letting go.  

(they say: "dont have the 5k to move my damn trailer, im screwed, ill just pay it", crowd).. the rents are much lower so the increases on an actual dollar value are so much less impactful that it makes no sense to move, and they take it.Divorcethis creates ripple effects, but storage demand goes up with divorce sadly.Dislocation this one is huge for recession proofing.. people lose houses to foreclosure, have to rent smaller homes, units etc, but love all their crap.. they say its temporary.. so they plop items into storage..people up and move to new cities for any decent job opportunity when they are desperate in a recession.. more storage demand..I initially had same thoughts you did regarding $100 a month storage is first thing struck from budget if recession hits... hell i am 100% personally against renting a storage unit, if i have that much crap shame on me..

How hard would it have been to prefabricate the stairs on site, and at least put in temporary access each night after work? 

One of the issues was, I was ending my lease at my current apartment, so I may have to find temporary housing. 

I find Jealousy a wasted emotion.  

Divorces can be extremely volatile both emotionally and financially.

Memo is way less emotional than talking.  

Every single transaction he goes through is an explosion of emotion and problems and threats and lawsuits.

In the appreciation-only scenario, you suffer the temporary hit to net worth that you point out, but it is not offset with cash flow.By the way, you should check out a really interesting article that came out in 2012, studying commercial real estate over the period from 1977-2011, called "Real Estate:  Alternative No More," by JP Morgan Asset Management.  

Maybe by being a temporary resident manager or a cohost for someone's airbnb property.