What type of financing strategies will allow us to scale without burning through our downpayment funds on the first 2 purchases?  

Also if you burn a seller/broker, its a much smaller world in CRE, you will be hard pressed to get another deal.I did a longer video on the topic!

Think they report that burning wire smell or the water running down the inside of a wall or the leaky toilet?

I can understand the temptation of wanting more rent from your multifamily home however I would add this to your train of thought:What would happen if your tenant in your illegal basement unit burned down the house which caused another tenant to get hurt or even die?

And in second, setting up a "plan Z" where if all else fails what does get "burned to the ground" is replaceable, and the wealth center is protected on it's "asset island". 

The burning question is: do you own rental properties?

I have a property that burned down and may consider doing an exchange (if needed) with cash leftover from paying off mortgage.Can someone send contact info?

I have burned up texts and calls from the other side of the world because of the crises du jour in my rental and flipping businesses.

Cap rates are at 5-6% on a stabilized SFR with a long term rental strategy.Only strategy I am seeing pencil right now are with a rent by the room / co-living strategy .Flips in some areas kind of make sense where you're all in for around 80% and can make a spread.I'd suggest evaulating different strategies or markets, else you may burn yourself out - this is learned from experience :)Shoot me a pm if you'd like to chat - I'd be happy to chat and help save you some time.

Also understanding how things are put together, how siding works, gutters, etc (basically as many aspects of the home as possible)Having this knowledge will also help you from getting burned by contractors telling you things just so they can save time and money and deliver a crappy service.