I'm looking to slowly grow my portfolio and am looking forward to reading your stories. 

The key to growing a rental portfolio at a reasonably fast pace is to acquire foreclosed properties that require rehab, therefore the equity position may be large enough to refinance cash out your original down payment funds to recycle into the next property.

Basically, I am as hands on as I can be for the learning experience, but I am as off hands as I can be for the sake growing both of my businesses and so I can focus on investing in other markets. 

If i use an HML this year for a flip,  they fund me for purchase + rehab, etc ... does all that money get taxed as ordinary income?

Downgrading will allow me to keep growing and save more money for the next properties.

While I am growing my portfolio is there a good process that will allow me to keep track of utilities without having to add and remove each time a tenant moves out? 

I did much of my growing up in LA and still have much family there.

Thanks for responding guys, this buckey nation of ours is growing.

I have been thinking about strategies of growing my real estate unit portfolio in size, but any way I looked, I was running into limitations (high LTV for conventional loans, expensive real estate with low cap, 1031) but nothing felt quite right until I came across the BRRRR strategy.

My father has been trying to get me to invest in commercial (his wheelhouse) for the last decade, and after seeing his portfolio grow in that timespan, I'm kicking myself for not starting that journey sooner.