I am in a fairly unique situation, and would love some advice on a first real estate purchase. 

Putting money into unique properties is also more risky.

The market here is quite unique compared to the rest of the nation, and even to the rest of California for that matter. 

When first starting out do not do anything unique or different than what is average.

You should start with a general idea of price point and strategy, which should get you narrowed down a bit, then you'll want to look at job and population growth (City-Data.com) and get a feel for each of the markets, once you have selected a market you can go a bit deeper into sub-markets and unique details of the market as a whole.

Im hoping to get some creative answers on how to overcome this scenario.My scenario is a little unique, as I currently have been renting out my primary residence part time on Airbnb for the last 1 year of 4 months bringing in 3,000 a month conservatively($4,500 this month, which is a record for me).

Hi I have a unique situation on my hands.

Now I am in San Diego and am interested in purchasing a cafe which serves unique Kina Hawaiian coffee .

You can also diversify much easier and cheaper over geography so you are less exposed to the risk of a single metro area experiencing the loss of a major employer or other unique problem and messing up your returns.

Just do what is average and not unique to the area you choose.