I'm a firm believer that - within the "reasonable parameters" - there is no wrong or right, just variations of things of which some will suit person A and other(s) will suit person B.As a very general approach I would say that if you plan on building up a cash-flow generating "empire" you probably want to leverage as much as reasonably possible so as to rather quickly increase the numbers of units you own.

I'm particularly interested in creative real estate acquisition strategies, creative funding strategies, and business/operations strategies focused on building a full-blown real estate investing empire. 

I remember when I was selling fix and flips at New Western and a large amount of the properties we sold were in the Inland Empire, mostly Eastvale, Fontana, and Ontario.

That's a discounted price for landlords who are under Empire Property Management (my mgmgnt company).

Not to mention, sellers jump on cash offers first.If you’re trying to build an empire, you would absolutely have to put the minimum down on every property.

If you are wanting to build an empire of single family homes, find those investors. 

They also have an applicant pay option.The evil empire Z-word also allows it now, I believe. 

I don't see the point of busting my butt building a rental empire if I am just going to "get by". 

California real estate prices actually dropped between 1988 and 1997.Howard Hughes, the aviation pioneer of an earlier era, built his empire in Culver City (now part of Silicon Beach).

“If you want to take the island, burn the boats”Alexander the Great, who created an empire that stretched from his home in Macedonia to India, ostentatiously burned his ships when arriving in Persia in 334BC.