My primary question is: Should I focus on buying a multifamily property and growing slowly to build a stable financial foundation, even though my area would have minimal cash flow and be more of an appreciation play?

I might have a better shot at it if build a portfolio of properties and sell them all together as a business.

It is a full-time deal, and you will need to build your pipeline of clients for the next 2 years.

- Are there certain areas you would stay away from and why (eg, high crime, bad schools, poor quality builds, etc)?

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If you aren't going to move into the property, you will need 20-30% down so you need to factor that in to the price points in your area.I would keep saving instead of activating a low-equity HELOC right now.

I like turnkey for people who want to invest, but don't want to build a team.

I do a lot of accrual loans but on this scenario with a new build and only 25% down of the land costs only???

I'm trying to decide when or if I should transition from "building the portfolio" and acquiring properties and move to paying down the loans and building cash flow. 

If you build a good relationship with the banker they will call you when there getting ready to acquire another property.The two keys:1.