Best way to get financing for my situation

[Christopher Hall]

My goal - to be netting $30,000 a year from rental properties (probably single-family homes).  I'd like to hit this goal in 2-3 years.

My situation

• I own 1 rental property outside ATL.  It's paid for 100%.  It nets about $8k a year.  The house is worth around $140k.
• I have a job making a little over $100k a year.  Steady job - been there for 10 years.  Could set aside $2k a month for further investing.  Tired of job - want to get out eventually.
• I currently rent as we just moved and didn't want to buy yet.
• Credit score is 800+

My question - what is the best way to go about financing further deals?  I financed my rental with a conventional loan through SunTrust.  Put 20% down, if I recall.  Is that the best use of my money?  It'll take me a long time to be able to net $30k a year this way because I just don't have enough money.  I'm aiming to net $200 a month from each property, so I need 15 properties, so I can see myself running out of money pretty quickly.

I've thought about looking at multi-family homes, but I have some experience with single-family homes, and hate to start a brand new learning curve.  I'm bad about learning and not doing.

I've also seen strategies where people buy downtrodden homes, fix them up, refinance, and then take out a loan on the appreciation, and buy another home.  Is that another option?

Thanks for any feedback you all can give.