If you choose to go with the latter option, there are many other investments you can do in the short term to keep your money working for you and growing faster.

I wanted to build a portfolio faster than I could save up and make down payments.

The first few will be hard and take longer but hopefully once you hit 5+ properties it will be faster to acquire more. 2.

Stronger than expected inflation figures over the past couple days, along with some encouraging developments regarding a COVID-19 vaccine fueled the increase – although doubts about Congress’s ability to agree on a new coronavirus relief bill appeared to hinder some of the upward motion.

My goal in the end is a long term NOI for retirement, and the DC properties gets me there much faster.  

I had a huge struggle with the first lender of my property in Escondido and then did some research and found one that was way more flexible and worked several times faster than the first one.In one of the training events I attended years ago, someone said something really important that I feel applies here as a reminder: "We are running the show (regardless if you do your investing with an LLC or not).

I think if we went into things knowing it was going to be a 100% flip we could move faster but usually the plan is for the property to be a rental once we're done so We try to save up cash for each project then start the project.

If you want save faster, look at how you can cut your expenses or earn extra money. 

These rules assume leveraged investments to scale faster and maximize return.

You have access to other people's money, you don't impact the equity in your property (i.e. future wealth), and you have a revolving door, so you can use the money, pay it down, and use it again for as long as the bank leaves it open.Moreover, if you live below your means as a lifestyle, you can build equity into the properties you buy at a much faster rate by chunking payments.