New, have a couple rentals but want to do more.

[Christy Gaines]

I just finished looking at how our investments have performed over the last few years and despite record breaking market growth the only one who's making any money is my broker.  I'd like to liquidate all of my non 401k investments and buy rentals. i have a couple here in LA  I own outright but I'm only clearing about 4% of the value of the property per year so I'm really interested in looking outside of California (despite my incredible run of good luck with my renters so far).  markets I'm interested in would be Lexington, Colorado, Wyoming, and perhaps Arizona but im open to suggestions.  

What returns should i be looking for, i have read about 6% seems to be average?  is there any advantage to leveraging debt as opposed to just paying outright im not aware of (my husband is very risk adverse)? should I consider getting licensed as a RE if i want to buy out of state? Would it be best to try to get 10 or more rentals in one area as opposed to several throughout a few different states? Should I liquidate my LA rentals and invest that money elsewhere?  I'm extremely interested in vacation rentals too but it seems a bit more complex than i might be able to undertake right now. 

I realize these are quite a few market specific questions, but I'm just looking to be pointed in a general direction.  I've done some reading and I certainly don't expect you fine people to do all of my research for me, so links to any articles would be helpful and appreciated. 

Thank you for your time.