I learned about the power of leverage and used that equity in my two paid off rentals to scale up to 25 SFR with debt (on 18 of them) vs just my original  two paid off properties.

If you find a local, smaller hard money lender, they can be a great partner to scale with.

Chico is more up-scale with the university there. 

You could do something like this at a smaller scale.

I think the best strategy is to get your foot in the door with the least amount of risk on the first deal, which could be a turkey single-family or, depending on the area, a duplex.This way you can start building those relationships you need and figuring out the systems you will use at scale. 

You'll be able to scale up much faster using this approach than just spending all of your cash up front.

This shorter construction time effects loan costs.Modular manufacturers benefit from purchasing scale.

If you are wanting to scale: refinance and deploy for additional acquisitions. 

Was feeling uneasy with the economy and wanted more cash to scale and to reduce debt.  

When I preview my properties on VRBO I see a scale of 5 but when I preview it on Expedia I see a 10 scale.