This is how you truly scale and build a massive real estate empire.

@Codey Fabian Amassing an empire with cash-only sounds like a noble endeavor but, man, it's going to be a long slow road.

I'm quite bullish on Riverside and the Inland Empire and have suggested to multiple people to purchase properties with a detached garage so that they can convert that to an ADU.

We call that "Easier to divide dollars than doors" approach.It is kinda sad (in addition to knowing your death is near), since it seems like the harder a guy works and starves to build a RE "empire" for his kids, the less the kids care about keeping it going. 

I spoke to a number of different lenders about my options to acquire financing as a college student, and a few times when I've mention looking into using an FHA loan or other FTHB loans to purchase a rental property, I am told that those loans are designed to help those who cannot necessarily afford a conventional loan and should not be used to "build a real estate empire."

I love my job and I'm not trying to create an empire to leave my current job (yet).

The income from real estate may be considered passive but there is nothing passive about building and running a real estate empire of any size. 

Here are my favorite books:Multifamily Millions by Dave LindahlThe ABCs of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroyThe Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings by Steve BergesCommercial Real Estate Investing by Dolf De RoosTrump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received by Donald TrumpTax Free Wealth by Tom WheelwrightCommercial Real Estate 101: How Small Investors Can Get Started and Make It Big by David LindahlRaising Private Capital: Building Your Real Estate Empire Using Other People’s Money by Matt FairclothThe Definitive Guide to Apartment Marketing by Josh GrilloInvesting in Apartment Building by Matthew MartinezCrushing It in Apartments and Commercial Real Estate by Brian H MurrayThe 7 Secrets to Successful Apartment Leasing by Eric Cumley2 Years to a Million in Real Estate by Matthew MartinezBurn Zones: Playing Life’s Bad Hands by Jorge NewberyCommercial Mortgages 101: Everything You Need to Know to Create a Winning Loan Request by Michael ReinhardIt’s a Whole New Business!

If I were you, I will try to look at the area out of bay area, such as cities along highway 80 from Vallejo to  Sacramento, or cities in Central Valley, or Inland Empire.

Second, most people work another full time career while building their real estate empire on the side.