Investment Strategy for Multiple Properties Newbie

[Adam Frey]

My wife and I will have our primary residence payed off my May.  Once this is complete I plan to purchase 4 buy and hold properties in the first year.  My strategy is as follows:

I will start with a HELOC for $80,000 which is a little less than 80% LTV.

Then I will use this to provide the 20% down on each house in the $50,000 range.

We will be able to pay off the HELOC in approx 1 year leaving only the mortgages on the properties.

From here I plan to get our savings around $25,000. This savings combined with the $80,000 HELOC ensure we will have enough for emergencies, down markets, etc. (My wife is risk averse).

Once this is complete I plan to continue acquiring houses every few months. 

Here are my questions... 

Knowing I plan to purchase multiple houses in a short period would I be better off going to the financial institution for each house or finding some type of portfolio lender and discussing my business plan up front? What are the pros and cons of each?

Also,  if you have any other ideas or constructive criticism I am open to your opinions.