Do the general "rule of thumbs" apply to orange county, ca?

[George Maka]

As a new investor, I am trying to learn as much as I can and trying to catch up on the lingo for real estate investing. As I go through the beginner guide on this site, I came across the "rule of thumb" and I cannot understand how this applies to Orange County, CA because the prices seem high. I plan to buy and rent for my strategy. Some examples I don't understand are;

2% rule - Rent is my area for a 2bdrm, 2 bathroom condo/house is about $2,000. Applying this rule, I would need to find something for $100,000? I don't even know if that is possible.

50% rule - If I take the above rent, and apply 50% of that to the expenses, that leaves $1000 for the mortgage. Only way I imagine this to cash flow would be to own the property out right or have a very small mortgage.

70% rule - this is understandable.

I know these are just a rule of thumb to screen properties, but do investors in Orange County, CA find these applicable or do you guys have to adjust these rules?

Thank you,

George