The more offers your research and prepare the faster you will get at it.  

Yes, you can scale faster without putting 20% down but it will require typically the use of other people's money or value add to build in the equity or both.

This is what is is puzzling me because it will deplete cash inventory faster...

If you get to the 20% mark faster than the amortization schedule calls for, you'll drop the PMI sooner, so if you had extra money, it would be better to put it toward principal.Better than that, use extra money to buy an asset.

Real estate can be like that - you learn faster and it's way more fun if you aren't going it alone!

When you have cash flow do you think it is more affective to put that towards the principal to get your properties paid off faster or do you collect and put it towards another investment or do you consider it income and live on it?

Looking for alternatives to NJ (where I live) because real estate has become too expensive to find decent cash flow and prices are going up faster than rents ever can.  

Has anyone found a lender who consistently does faster than that, or is this the unfortunate norm in small community bank commerical financing?

This will increase your price drastically and help you rent the rooms faster.2) Have all utilities included and charge higher rent.

Your cost increases while the ratio of investment to rental income decreases.In addition as inflation keeps occurring and possibly rising, the value of the money you make decreases, even though it means that you can pay off your mortgage balance faster.