Then do cash out refis on the new properties you buy in about 4 or 5 years when they appreciate to scale up.

Ill start there and if I decide I want to create business out of this I think it might make sense for me to pay for a program to help me scale. 

Deals like this one, probably won't scale very well, though. 

I'd look at at least 3-4 family lots at a minimum for economies of scale. the price of land in miami is so high it makes single family home building nearly impossible. flips aren't worth it.

Begin with a small daily budget to test performance, then scale up based on results.

But I would confirm what they were doing in 2008, since I have heard some syndicators talk about "I started investing in real estate in 2004..." which, when you dive into it, they mean "I bought my first primary residence in 2004", which is vastly different than doing large scale investments.Regarding syndications, only accredited offerings, etc: I tend to disagree.  

What I am writing below is for someone that has excellent credit with zero chance of losing the property short of a large scale economy collapse.  

I am a long time real estate investor with 30 years of experience.  It has been my side hustle during my military career.  I have 13 doors in NJ, LA and MD.  Goal is to keep growing the portfolio in Baltimore.  Focus ...

For those that had SFRs and sold to buy a multi-family, when did you feel it was the right time to scale?

@Karim WahbaSetting up a fund vs syndication for flipping homes comes down to scale and structure.Syndication: Typically involves a single asset, which can be stupidly expensive in terms of cost/time for just one flip unless it's a high-value property.