@Terra Padgett as someone that has retired early off of my rental property cash flow, I will say it is predictable at scale, over time.One property does not provide predictability either on short term, or over the course of one year.

I'm not quitting real estate but I'm deciding not to scale anymore at this point.  

This could also open the doors to direct equity investments in the future if you scale and continue to hold these initial assets.

Let's be realistic, scaling in a house hack fashion doesn't happen in today's world like the pre-Covid era. 5 MFs in 5yrs with just $25k to work with is a false reality.

The scale of economy in this route is very appealing and offers a different kind of stability and growth potential.I’m equally interested in both options.

If it's a 4-plex I'd increase those numbers because of the lack of economy of scale.  

So to do this to scale where you're a lender with 4 - 6 of these loans going at once you'd need 750k - 1 million and you'd still find yourself out of capital for stretches. 

It's always best to start with simpler deals and scale into larger scale rehabs.

Solid post and would agree with everything - but the last one - "Local or National Expert" - I do think there is still value here but I would say this is the one area that is being I'd argue reduced in importance via technology and ability to reach people digitally and remotely - but like you said, its really more important for people trying to scale - where if its your first or second, local probably makes a lot of sense

There will be a point in time as you scale where you WILL run out of money.