I know my market and feel that I have skills needed to take a stab at this on a larger scale.

Originally posted by @Kyle D Birch:I'd start preparing a plan to scale up. 

My goal is to have a cash flow in 5 hers where I will not need a JOB and then scale up.Let me know if there is anyone else out there in the same boat as me.

Assuming a scale for A being Best and D being the worst neighborhoodsBuy cash flow properties in ideally B, B- To C+, C areas with good economics jobs etc.So if someone says they need $ 8000 in cash flow per monthWe would build the model as follows.

Some may desire to scale and do so much more than this, and that is great. 

Good on you Steve.... the refi to you die mantra has gotten many folks in trouble.. there is absolutely nothing wrong with free and clear assets.. sleep well live well..... its one way to really scale up when that big deal comes in. .your balance sheet looks super strong.. your banker see's you have a combination of TRUE equity and your not leveraged to the hilt.Its the same concept of paying off 15 to 20% credit cards.. for me perosnally with auto loans at 2% no need to pay cash for those like I always did the last 30 years... and for personal resi with 3% money no need to pay that off although my LTV s are all under 50% and I always have that 500k of tax free I can tap if I want to decamp to retirement land..

VA guidelines require that “The surface requiring treatment must be thoroughly washed, scraped, wirebrushed or otherwise cleaned to remove all cracking, scaling, peeling, chipping and loose paint and then repainted with two coats of a suitable nonleaded paint, or:The paint shall be completely removed or the surface covered with a suitable material such as gypsum wallboard, plywood or plaster before any painting is undertaken if the paint film integrity of the surface needing treatment cannot be maintained.” 

Before this issue on a scale of 1-10 how well was it running?

If this process scales, you are looking at even greater returns!

After you get your feet wet so to speak you can then get into full scale fix and flips.