Advice for making our money go as far as possible

[Mark McKeny]

My wife and I are actively putting together a business plan and trying to get a grip on our financial needs. Our primary focus at this point is SFRs up to a four-plex for a buy-and-hold. We both have full time jobs but want to establish a revenue stream so we can retire early. We have not found a loan advisor or realtor as of yet.  

We paid cash for our primary residence a year ago (no mortgages) and have money in savings. We do not want to waste all of our liquid savings on a 20% down conventional loan for (1) SFR. We prefer to start with a two, three, or four-plex that can provide a steady return then venture into more SFR's after that. We'd like to start out with 2-3 purchases per year for 3-5 years.

Do you have any advice you can provide us for making our money go as far as possible?