Question on mortages

[Rickard Risberg]

Hey guys, I'm a 16 year old who is really interested in real estate, Forex trading and entrepreneurship in general.

I have a question regarding real estate:

When you buy a house either for rental or a fix and flip (assuming it's around 50-100k) you usually have a down payment of around 20% or less and get the rest as a mortgage. Is there any benefit of doing this compared with using your own saved up money? (Except that you do not risk your own capital)

Another thing, some people buy a house, raise the value, rent it and the refinance. Isn't it risky to keep raising the mortgages as you will owe the bank more and more? It seems like the only way of doing loads of real estate is with the bank, but isn't it risky to get mortgages over mortgage etc etc.

Another thing, how much money would you guys say that I need to start investing in property, one by one. I would potentially like to do rentals to section 8, but also flip houses and cash out with article 1031& reinvest in another one. Eventually I want to own shopping centres, commercial real estate to rent out to several companies, establishing a big and stable cashflow every month.

Also is it unrealistic to think that I will do all of my property management by myself when I start, and what is the highest amount of properties that you've managed at once without struggling with the work?

I hope that someone understands my question and I thank everyone for answering in advance!