This led me down a weird series of events as I didn't know exactly when I wanted to do, and although I made numerous mistakes with ventures that I am no longer pursuing, I learned a lot. 

Anyways, again, good luck and whatever your strategy.... keep it SIMPLE... don't OVERTHINK... and try to think out of the box (AirBnB, short term professional tenants, business credit cards (AMEX and CHASE ONLY)) ... in short a lot of options exist and numerous ways to make money without getting too crazy. 

@Joel Gaytan.Yes there is a partial exclusion if you have to sale because of various personal reasons such as health, work, or unseen circumstances. 

Your health care will be covered and you'll be on a meal plan so if you really wanted to save every dollar you could.My recommendations would be: Don't buy some shmancy expensive car/ or a brand new car ie: Mustang, Charger, Jeep, etc-- don't go out to the bars every weekend-- when you do go to the bars don't spend money on girls.

You'll need roughly .90% of the monthly gross rents to be higher than your entire monthly PITI payment (prin/interest/taxes/insurance monthly) which is near impossible to do in Ventura county even if you buy extremely distressed but then FHA wont finance you (probably) due to min health and safety requirements with FHA (unless if you do a 203k FHA rehab loan but thats another discussion).The only way to combat the FHA SS rule is to put more money down which negates the benefit of 3.5% down FHA loan, find ways to decrease your monthly payment like rate buy downs, use of FHA 5/1 ARM instead of 30 year fixed, get lower insurance quotes, or to increase the rental income (either or).

In my scenario I have a w-2 job that provides health insurance for my domestic partner(soon to be wife).

Check out numerous operators and you will have your answers. 

I have posted a few properties and have received numerous leads.

If you go this route I recommend you google "introductory HELOC Los Angeles" and there will be numerous banks and credit unions that will have an introductory offer of 2.99 or 3.99%.My recommendation is to reach out to a mortgage lender both here in Southern California and out of state (depending on where you want to invest) and determine how much you'll qualify for based on your current numbers.While it will be a process to get everything figured out the key is to take action. 

Have a few small business part time and am full time  with a professional health care major group for 25 years.