Multiple properties would definitely be the wiser use of that money. Before you put 5 offers in though, think about the ways that a rental property produces income. With one property purchase for $100k, sure you'll have all 4 of those mechanisms working for you: 1 cash flow, 1 mortgage being amortized, 1 property appreciating and tax benefits from 1 property. Now if you have say 5 properties each with 20% down (just using as close to round numbers as I can), there's your $100k. But now you have 5 cash flows, 5 mortgages being amortized, 5 properties appreciating and tax benefits from 5 properties. The beauty in it though is that you may be tempted to think that well the cash flow will be 1/5 of what it'd be if you only had 1 unit or that the mortgage payment would only be 1/5 the size. Not true!
Let's use the 2% rule that says that your rent price should be roughly 2% of what you paid for the house (note: this is not a hard and fast rule and doesn't work everywhere). Now if you bought 1 house for $100k you'd be receiving $2k/mo in rent. If you bought 5 homes w/ 20% down for $100k, you'd be receiving $10k/mo in rent. If each home cash flows $200/mo, you're keeping either $200/mo with 1 home or $1000/mo with 5 homes. For a more thorough and detailed explanation I would definitely check out Brandon Turner's The Book on Real Estate Investing. It's an easy read, and a great introduction to real estate. It's also guaranteed to answer your questions (especially Chapter 3: 4 Sample Plans).
