What is a typical strategy for first time investors?

[Mark Dolan]

Hi guys, I am new to BP and have been listening to some of the podcasts and reading some of the material on rental property investing for beginners. I am curious however about what a typical strategy for somebody looking to invest in several rental properties and produce monthly cash flow would look like. I assume that the first purchase pretty much gets the ball rolling and hopefully paves the way for your second, third, fourth etc.? One thing however thing I don't understand is how do you raise the capital for your second purchase after paying a large portion of your savings securing your first mortgage? This of course is assuming that most first time investors do not have a huge amount of life savings put away. Do people generally just start from scratch and try to rebuild their savings to the point where they can invest in a second property? Sorry if these are silly questions guys but I am still a little confused by the whole thing and trying to learn how things work. I appreciate any feedback that you may have. 

Thanks!!