Is cash flow on a first property in SoCal possible?

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Hello folks,

I have began reading the bigger pockets book on rental property investing and one of the things that Brandon mentions is to buy a rental property that offers cash flow today. 

My situation:

I am looking to buy a 2 or 3 bed condo or townhouse in which I will live in and have tenants. Given the prices in socal it's going to be very difficult to have cash flow from any property I chose to buy unless it's in an awful neighborhood. It seems as if my best options are having my tenants pay most of the rent while I am able to continue to keep working my main job and saving money by not having a pricey mortgage. Is this the best possible option in SoCal?

Thanks for any advice.