Now you are deep into the world of zoning and neighbor relations.I think the easier way into the billboard empire is to just lease or license the small land area from the current owner with access rights.  

@Marvin Todd are you ever down the hill in the inland empire?

I am going to build a multi-billion $ empire that has influence across the globe—THAT is my desire.I don't wish to be average.

That just tells us that real estate markets are good at gaining short-term momentum in appreciation and depreciation, not the long-term trends we're talking about here.I don't think too many people would disagree that it's very common to see (empirically) short-term market momentum.  

I'm new to the arena though, so the standard 20% down rates are a bit out of my reach, so I'm looking to be creative with financing.For books, I'm going through Build a Rental Property Empire, by Mark Ferguson, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller, Rich Dad Poor Dad, a couple of books by Brandon Turner I found here on BP, the ABCs of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy, and Investing in Duplexes Triplexes and Quads by Larry Loftis.

We're buying value add opportunities in these markets.We're also looking for brokers in the Inland Empire for buy and hold apartment buildings.  

I need to build my empire on a solid foundation. 

Our goal is to build a portfolio or as I say an "empire" of passive income to provide the cash flow needed for early retire in 15 years, wo we do work on furthering our careers.

Yes, I am looking for someone who will mentor me and create synergies of opportunities.One of my goals is to step out of the "Rat Race" and into something I love and build my empire of Real Estate!

Worth and Orlando) than the Inland Empire.