My plan, your feedback?

[Ryan Burns]

I have spent multiple hours reading and absorbing from the community here, and enjoyed it immensely. The attitude of selfless sharing is motivating!
I am a 28 year old newbie looking to shore up the holes in my knowledge and firm up my plan before I really invest, which I hope to be in a few months. My plan starts with the purchase of a 2 or 3 family home which will be owner occupied. I plan to buy and hold in Lowell Massachusetts. I have 15k to put down from my 401 k, as I see it as a poor retirement vehicle, and 17k in the bank and growing by about 650 per month. house price to be 160-230k depending on number of units with traditional financing and 5% down.
The plan gets fuzzy after that. I am unsure how I can be sure I would be able to leverage my property to get another, and so on. My focus will be a comfortable retirement as I feel I am young enough to accomplish this at a decent age and comfortably if I am diligent and plan properly early on. I would love to talk to anyone willing to share their opinions and experiences with me! Thank you in advance and I am excited to be a part of this community!