How to understand cash flow?

[Martin Min]

When talking about cash flow, I feel it is directly impacted by the down payment amount when purchasing the property.With a minimal down payment, the cash flow will be minimal, or even negative; on the other hand, with a big down, for instance, 50%, the cash flow may be big. I read that usually 8% cash flow is something that's desired; otherwise, the property investment may not be good. So we may end up with two choices:

1. high down payment, high cash flow

2. low down payment, low cash flow

In case 2, if I put my money in some other properties or investment, even though the cash flow on this property may not be good, I can end up with multiple investments. In such a case, low cash flow may be a good thing. Is my understanding correct? Should we always pursue high cash flow rate?