Your best bet would be to take a look at a combination of cash outs / or maybe just one in order to obtain your proceeds for the new purchase.

But I’ll bet  you’ve developed a great “feel” for when to “work” with a tenant and when to get “tough”  

I bet that is a lot of it.. the guy appears to be somewhat of a bully from what I read between the lines.. and of course some of these folks on this site followed his advice and basically do the same model that he does .. so it probably is not great that the risks of that model are popping up for them to deal with..  

I would however get into the habit of increasing rent every year, even if it is a small amount-it adds up and I'll bet your costs (insurance, taxes, etc) go up every year.

If you buy now you are betting your criteria will be similar when you retire.

I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

Hospitable is likely your best bet.

Good stuff - you are pretty spot on - technically people max out under conventional loans at 10 - but oftentimes its with fewer properties as people run into hurdles before hitting 10, some of which you mention - wanting to diversify strategies, multifamilies, needing LLCs etc.I think you are on the right track for DSCR Loans - I always say that DSCR is really perfect for people in the 5-50 property range - typically conventional is the best fit with your first few, and then when ready to make the "jump" to scaling bigger and faster - DSCR is the best bet.

There are obviously a lot more factors that go into it - real estate is always going to be a mix of the tangible property/market itself with a mix with the investor/operator including experience, risk appetite, financial situation etc.I would say however if you are just getting started in real estate - LTRs are probably (in a vacuum) the better bet as STRs are certainly more sophisticated and challenging from an investor perspective

But... if it is, I think your best bet to find the type of syndicator you've described is... offline, and over a period of months or years.