5th mortgage - how to get past the tipping point?

[Account Closed]

Howdy folks! 

So a couple months reading BP, and have a question for you, that has been covered before in passing many times, but thought maybe a thread that compiled the collective consensus would be a good idea? 

Fannie/Freddy limit the number of conventional loans per person to 4.  For most of us, that means our personal residence + 3 rentals. 

Question is - what is/was your personal stories and strategies for getting financing for that 5th (and beyond) property?

I understand that there are many commercial and hard money options for acquiring 5th and beyond properties, but they don't seem to have great long term interest rates that leave you the kind of cashflow you need for deals to pencil out.  I've read of people using the snowballing technique and paying off one rental at a time, thus freeing up a mortgage every couple years or so (depending on $ of rentals, obviously).   But I'd rather not wait years between acquisitions... thoughts?