You at least need to know how much you owe so you can accumulate that much in your savings account.

There's also 2 feet of mold a few inches high showing signs of previous water accumulation on the floor.

She suggested buying more insurance (you will need to have this anyway even if you have LLC) until I accumulate 5-7 properties in my own name. 

If you had five houses with ARV of $100,000 each and under the refinance portion you refi them at 75% you have just accumulated $125,000 of net worth and there is no money stuck in.  

If you are looking for a more passive route where you intend on working your day job while still accumulating real estate, Turnkey should definitely be considered.

I was concerned when a pile of lint had accumulated near the hot water heater.

I can accumulate savings rather quickly compared to most people, but I don't have a home to use for an equity credit line or any of the other creative tricks to get investment capital.  

They've generally bought in the downturns (except for some 1031s they did around 2004-2006) and accumulated a good portfolio for themselves.

My main purpose was to just grow the equity in it for free.Well, now that I'm wanting to accumulate more properties to grow my passive income, I've begun the refinance process on the condo to pull out the equity and have some cash available for a down payment on an additional property.

If i were to accumulate the money to pay one house off and then further increase my monthly savings until I paid down the next, etc, I could have all paid off in < 5 years.Once paid off, I would gross about $105,000 per year.  2 of the houses are < 10 years old and 2 are > 25 years old.