So, I want 100-200 SFD & 2-4 unit rentals. What's the issue?

[Brandon Schlichter]

So, for the past 3 years or so I've been mentioning to a FEW established investors that I'd like to have at LEAST 100 SFD & 2-4 unit rentals before I consider buying an apartment complex, commercial, etc.  The goal being to have 200 before I start really doing commercial on a serious basis.

When I mention this, the response is usually "You don't want that many, you should stop at 30-40 units, convert them to Commercial or a large apartment complex" usually due to management & cashflow issues.

So, as of this time I'm right at 67 rentals with another 4 in contract. Looking at a few more purchases this year that might put me to the 75-80 rental range.

And at this point I'm trying to figure out - What's the problem with SFD & 2-4 units?

As of today I manage it all myself. I do utilize work crews for all my maintenance work (Because regardless of what I do, I'll never be able to scale without outsourcing at least this). I could see myself easily keeping it all a one-man-show at 150 units before I have to consider management as long as my workload scales linearly. My expectation after I bought my first rental was that my workload would scale in a linear fashion, and more-or-less it has. As time goes on I keep getting more efficient at how I manage it all. By tracking expenses with QuickBooks, I've been able to find where I was leaking cash (Mostly dealing with how I managed tenant utilities) but also decrease my hours spent per rental, per month. 

So, for those more experienced, what am I missing? I realize that taking on someone to help manage at 150 units will mean employment taxes, training, and a increased workload most likely at a somewhat lower cashflow per unit due to the increased expenses, but it would let me scale beyond the 150 unit threshold to whatever I deem useful. This is what I'd LIKE to do, seeing as I'm 31 years old and there just seems to be too few people wanting to 'do the landlord thing' and constantly buy property. Most of the people that were hot on buying 3,4,5 years ago have slowed down significantly as prices have gone up, but I've been able to increase my speed of purchasing due to a larger sphere of influence and organic marketing.