Is it really not possible to cash flow in the Los Angeles area?

[Jacob Barnhart]

First, it has always been my dream to be able to move my family out to Santa Monica. Our family has always loved the area. Which is why it concerns me when I read how its impossible to cash flow in that given area.

I've heard from many places that it's just about impossible to cash flow in the very populated California cities. I did a little looking through zillow and rental websites to determine market rents in the area and I found this triplex that seems to cash flow from year one. ( https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Santa-Monica... ) [Mortgage of only $7200 with rents $8900 and to me it appears the rents are even a bit below market.]

I've seen many properties that seem to have cash flow like this or better in this area - even at the asking price of the seller- and feel like I must be missing something.

Obviously I know I have no way of knowing what all of the expenses are for this property, but it appears at first glance like these properties do in fact profit. Nevermind the fact that it may be a low cash-on-cash ROI due to it's very steep purchase price, which doesn't matter for me if it means achieving my goal.

Does anybody more experienced than me have any input? on whether I am crazy and just miscalculating or is it actually viable to find cash-flowing properties in this area?