I have used this method for many years each with no less that $10k per house.

Snowball -     Where if I were to payoff a single home with this "extra" money it would increase my cashflow by 8500/yr (but I also lose bank principle pay of 2000/year) so the effective added cash flow is ~6500yr.By the time I add Principal paydown and "slight" appreciation the add homes method seems to be the clear choice.        *** I would love to hear your comments on a debate in favor of the snowball.**** At some point, future, I think I will want most all properties paid off so I can have great flow with minimal stress and maintenance numbers but kinda feel growth phase is still smartest as of now. 

What are your most productive methods of getting tenants?

Agreed on your method..

While we were unsuccessful with wholesaling, we learned a lot and had aspirations of building a RE portfolio based on the BRRR method.

There is not one method to doing this and it mostly depends on how much paperwork you want to do.

Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice.

This is the simplest method, but it also means your tenants are more likely to abuse the utilities by leaving windows open with the heat or A/C running, leaving lights on, ignoring the toilet that constantly flushes on its own, etc.3.

I would work with an investor-friendly agent who focuses on cold-outreach methods like cold-calling, cold-texting, etc to bring you off-market deals under 250k.

Aside from the traditional example of acquiring a 2-4 unit property, there are other creative methods of house hacking.