I was watching real estate investor TV on youtube some months ago and the guy had an interesting strategy. He only holds houses for a few years, trading them up to buy more real estate. So as one goes up in value, he uses it to buy two. As two go up in value, he uses it to buy four, etc.
One thing he mentioned that I thought was rather clever, is not to hold the properties too long. If you do, major capital expenses will come up, such as furnace, water heater, roof, KITCHEN remodel, MULTIPLE BATHROOM remodels per house, etc.
Seems like a a good idea, only thing I see wrong with it is if you buy at a peak and then there is a downturn, you are stuck. I guess a lot of these new real estate investment gurus that have popped up since the crash have not been around long enough to see how timing can cause their plan to eventually fail.