Paying cash vs financing

[Christopher Sellar]

Hello BP family! I am looking to start owning single family rental properties. I am 34, active duty military with a big family. The plan is to buy our next house outright and rent it out when we move. After a few years of renting, because we would pocketing all of the rent which would bring in Hopefully 20-25K per year, we would buy another house outright and eventually rent that out. I understand this is a slower more linear plan to owning multiple properties. My goal is to have 6 fully paid off properties in about 10 years or so. I understand the BRRRR strategy. But this is just more attractive to me and would rather have 4-6 paid off houses than 20 houses that I still owe on. I am open to financing though, but I think I just like the idea of buying one house at a time and paying it off. What would you all consider doing and does this goal seem practical or would it make more sense to finance more homes and leverage the banks as much as possible?

Thank you in advance for your replies!