Advice for a newbie in an expensive city

[Mary Seo]

Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the BiggerPockets Forums (although I've been listening to the podcasts for over year now). I'm a software engineer located in Los Angeles and my goal is to start investing in (ideally) multi-family homes and if not, then single-family homes through house-hacking and possibly flipping (although i know flipping may not be the best idea during a recession). I don't have a ton of savings at the moment and I'd like to know if anyone has advice on how to get started in such an expensive city. The reason I'd like to stay in LA is to qualify for an FHA loan/live in the unit while renting out.