At first, my idea was solely home ownership, build up a large down payment and buy a Ranch house with a 3 car garage, a nice garage was a must for me.

Also do you have any advice on building connections and other ways to build up experiences?

I plan on not taking or using and money from the house but will have it sit in the bank to build up and use it when necessary, such as paying off the loan asap

And will be my niche when I build up enough cash to start buying and holding.To get a 3bd house around $10-$15k and rehab bringing the value up to around $50-$60k isn't a rare happening.

Eventually I'd like to buy and hold, but I know it'll take some time to build up to that.

@Sarah MillerWith out knowing a whole lot about your situation I'd recommend holding off until you can build up reserves for another down payment.

these guys aren't inexperienced, by their own account they have flipped 30+ properties in KS they have property in Toledo and are looking to invest in other areas of the country.  

I understand that if I was asking for a loan for a conventional owner occupier it's easier, but apparently they are more picky with investment properties.Short of waiting for another year or two to build up some history, what are my options? 

We can always pay them down earlier if we decide to later, but having seen the days of 8-10% mortgages, we're amazed that we can lock in 30 year investor loans under 5% (our last one was 4.125%), let our tenants basically buy our homes for us, and build up the cash flow to use for the next one.    

How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?