But I’m really trying to figure out what’s actually true and what’s fantasy.

YUp these are all convoluted fantasy land.. 

Ignore the fantasy advice you're getting from some who don't know what they're talking about.

Ken start's by hitting the nail-on-the-head, before running off into fantasy land.... 

. 😊  I've been thinking more about your question based on my LA experience, and some great advice I've read from three days of lurking here on BP from some RE veterans, based less on my fantasy but more on what I would do with your idea to start out at 1.5 and move into 3-5 million houses.First, it's all going to come down to your goals, here's a quote about that from Don Konipol (from the forum post https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/519/topics/1150499-the-...Quote from @Don Konipol:IMO, the financial reasons for investing in real estate include 1- Asset Preservation2- Increase Wealth3- Current Income4- Tax MinimizationWhile these four are not mutually exclusive, the more you benefit in one area the less will be the benefit in the others, given normal market conditions, unless you uncover something everyone else has missed.

I am swinging the baseball bat in the real world here not in the longshot fantasy world of zero down deals for a newbie.Cash is king...Location, location, location.Good Luck!

Common culture today seems to have the fantasy that zero money down, owner will carry, borrowed everything will produce a stable income producing asset for the buyer.

The reality is that if you speak to many Bid Dogs that have been in the program for over a year, most of them do not have done much or no actual deals at all, and they are very disappointed with the program.Phil and Shenoah are surrounded by a group of assistants which, in my opinion, are just plain liars and fakes, pretending to be seasoned real estate investors, which is really questionable, and talking about incredible and fantastic deals that they are doing, in my opinion, most really in fantasy land.

There are so many issues with your fantasy.

Obvious some stating their cash flow is $100-$200 per door may be close to realistic but any thing beyond that is pure fantasy.