How to make multifamily profitable in a more expensive area

[Nick Scullin]

Hi BP community! So in my learning phase of real estate, i've come across a few questions. After finishing up Josh and Brandon's book on How to Invest In Real Estate, I was drawn towards multifamily units and commercial real estate. I want to start my journey with a house hack that is very close to my day job (so I can drastically reduce time and money on commuting) and from there get into multifamily homes. I feel like it is a great way to scale my portfolio which will then lead to commercial RE. My problem is investing in a somewhat more expensive area. I'll be investing in Northern Philly Suburbs where duplex's can run well above of 300k. But the thing is that rents mostly don't pass even the 1% rule. 

My question is, are multifamily homes in more expensive areas a bad investment, or is it a thing of finding the right deal? I hear of so many examples of Midwest investors putting 100k into a multifamily unit that pulls $1500 or more rent, but that isn't the case around here (as far as I know). 

Any input to help me would be great. A lot of what I want is to know that this IS possible and how people are able to take this concept and really scale. Trying to learn all I can!!