The inverse becomes true as someone's net worth drops as your Risk of Ruin (RoR) flies up exponentially when you're dropping a lot of your bankroll on one wager). 

Just my $.02, I know everyone talks about creative financing, and it's the hot shot way to get into real estate, but, IMO, if you have to get too creative you're playing a game you aren't prepared for.Just like in poker, play within your bankroll.  

After saving over the years I am now in a position to bank-roll my own real estate adventure.

I will probably do a few more deals here and there, bankroll most cash and start paying down the properties that are left, then at some opportune point put everything into a trust for living out my last days and having something to generate monthly paychecks for kids, grandkids and siblings.

I would focus on how to make as much money as possible to help build my bankroll so I can give myself more opportunities to invest. 

In the SF Bay Area we call it a "tech wizard special"... the recent grad has 5% down and we put 'em in a $1m house, bankrolled by Twitter or Google.should I also be doing the same for a mortgage broker?

Count up all your available cash and list anyone that would lend you the bank roll to get started. 

If building a bankroll, land investing is faster.

Of course there's other steps in between purchasing and bankrolling profit.

However, what if you had a 100K bankroll to carry the property?