First Hack in Los Angeles

[Miles Bennett]

Just made my first post here to introduce myself so won't go into that too much, but I'd like to start this post with this question, and elaborate on it a bit below: Is it feasible for a first time investor to start investing in Los Angeles real estate? 

My business partner and I will be using our own funding and creative financing to purchase our first hack (we are currently renters). We live in Los Angeles and rent a nice enough apartment, but housing prices are sky high. I have a full time corporate job here with a salary that makes it hard to justify walking away from. Ultimately (and hopefully in the near future), walking away from this 9-5 is the goal, but first we need enough cash flow to do that. 

With that being said, my current predicament is this: It seems very difficult to start investing in LA because the only multi family homes under 400k are in VERY undesirable areas, but this is where my job is so I can't leave town for a more desirable place to invest in real estate. 

Final Question: What would you do? 

[Chris Mason]

Cool tip derived from a recent local REIA meetup that I'll personally be applying moving forward.

City-data.com has some interesting maps, including how much median income in a census tract has changed since 2000. Find a place where that intersects with reasonable prices, a place that "they" still say is a rough neighborhood, but the income trends of the people living there tell a different story about what it's going to look at 5-10 years from now. Basically, shoot to get ahead of the trendline, rather than chasing it. Speculation is betting on big drastic turnarounds, this is just a bet that the current trends continue, which they usually do.

I don't know LA like I know the Bay Area, is there anything here shaded dark (indicating unusually high income growth) that "everyone knows" is a "rough area"?