What's the smartest way to invest in real estate if you *do* have money?

[Robin Schumacher]

First, thanks to everyone here for creating/maintaining a great site. I'm new here and am learning a lot via the posts, articles, and more.

I've noticed that there are lots of posts and advice on how to get started with real estate investing with little/no money. But my question is: what's the smartest strategy to use (given my goals and preferred method below) if a person *does* have a decent sum of capital to fund the startup of the business?

I've got lots of experience with stock investing, have done fine, and have a business background of starting and selling/IPO'ing software companies (currently on my 3rd right now). I've carved out a chunk of my portfolio to now use for real estate with my preferred method being buy/hold single family homes and perhaps quads that meet my criteria. Is it better to buy few properties for cash upfront to get going or buy more properties and use leverage? I've already bought one foreclosure for cash that's a single-family home and just put my first tenant into it this weekend.

I do understand how a better ROI can be realized with the latter, however currently I am totally debt free and like the freedom and worry-free peace of mind that provides. In one of the investing books I read, the author provided an example of a couple who ran their business in a way where they bought new investment properties and aimed all the cash flow of their existing properties at the new one until it was paid off and then rinsed/repeated. That plan appeals to me, but I'm open to other strategies. I don't need the income right now or for the foreseeable future.

So what if you had a decent six-figure or even seven-figure base of $$$ to get started and didn't need the income, but was instead building a real-estate portfolio for retirement income in 10-15 years? What would be your plan of attack?

Thanks again for a great site.