Green behind the ears but already building portfolio... questions

[Evan Oxenhandler]

My wife and I have been slowly but surely acquiring some properties over the past several years. And I'll be the first to tell you we have next to no real education on the matter. We just kind of picked up the places here and there either through knowing the right person or just being in the right place at the right time.

It's been just recently that I decided that I wanted this to be a major source of income for us and so I've dedicated myself to getting a proper education on the topic (any advice for further reading is greatly appreciated. Already been through Rich dad..., Brandon's book, and a few others.) So bear with me and please excuse any questions or lack of knowledge that seem like I should know the answers to already.

We currently have about 7 properties.  Two commercial (four tenants total) and 5 res (5 tenants total) with a total value around $1M. Plus our house we live in. Our monthly cash flow after expenses and maintenance (and there are a lot of those) is around $5-6k. That all goes straight in to savings and toward whatever next prop we want to buy. We currently have no loans outstanding on any of the props.

What I think we should do next is consolidate these props and use the money we could get from selling them all as a down payment for a much larger, perhaps multi unit apartment complex. That way, we'd be turning 7 or 8 doors in to potentially 15-20-30 doors we are collecting rent from.

What I would like to ask of the experts of the forums is... what am I not thinking of? What else do I need to consider? Am I even in the right ballpark with what I think we should do next? Please remember, I am mostly a complete newbie when it comes to terminology and strategy, so if you could break down any advice accordingly, I would much appreciate it. Thank you in advance!