Rentals also build equity through tenant payments and appreciation, with profits taxed at lower long-term capital gains rates when sold.

I started off doing long distance BRRRRs until the rates went up.

Some guys I work with were getting 90% advance rates in Houston, but I think the banks are back to 70-80% now.

Quote from @Kaushik Sarkar: I’m exploring strategies to scale my real estate portfolio given the current mortgage rate Not sure much makes sense at 11%...Ouch....tough enough at 7.5%   Might have to put more than 20% down to finance....maybe 30% in North Texas.   

Also being open to section 8 could help with keeping vacancy rate low.

There will be multiple markets you can achieve a 7.5% cap rate especially if you're buying with cash.

Are they at market rent, or locked into below-market rates?

In many markets section 8 is higher than market rate. and investors need that extra return to mitigate the risk of sec 8 tenants generally speaking.

But I did not like what I saw, anything under what Costar would rate 4 stars did not appeal to me. 

When you consider that I only work about 4 hours a week, that breaks down to an hourly rate of just over $1,500 per hour.