Introduction: Noob in San Diego, CA.

[Riku Tajima]

Hi everyone! My name is Riku and I am a 23 year old male from San Jose, California, but now reside in San Diego. I, like many others, am looking to start building my real estate portfolio and start racking in some passive income. My goal is to reach financial freedom by the age of 40. I currently have zero experience in real estate investing, but have a working knowledge of the basics. 

I made this post to introduce myself to the community, and because I have a question that I have a hard time googling the answer to:

I plan my first investment to be a house-hack, financing through a FHA loan and living in it for a year. I know I will not have trouble finding housemates and I have enough money for the down payment and upfront costs, but my personal income is low enough to disqualify me based on the DTI requirement. What are my best option(s) to work around this issue? Or should I ditch this strategy and pursue another (search in more affordable cities, partner up with $$$$$, etc.)

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to connect with you all. also, I'll have a picture up soon - for some reason the website isn't letting me upload for now. 

[Ray Alsaigh]

@Donald E Appleberry
Just to clarify, my suggestion was to do the rehab first before getting any tenants. By doing that, you're increasing your equity by adding value to the home. After that, you can refinance at the ARV value, pay back your lenders and house hack it.
Again, this is just a scenario that I've seen multiple people do. I'm actually shopping for a house myself in San Diego to do that same exact thing! 

Just wanted to clarify what I meant to eliminate any confusion. 

Cheers!