That means I'd be covering a significant shortfall every month.

So, if the total payment was  2500 you would only need to cover 1000 dollars a month with your income. 

Personally, I bought a 3 bed single family home soon after starting my job and had two friends from college rent which covered my mortgage plus a little extra.

Frank, For a rookie investor with low capital looking to build a rental portfolio, the best strategy is house hacking: buy a small multi-family home with a low down payment (FHA or conventional loan), live in one unit, and rent the others to cover your mortgage.

Since you are in an expensive market, commissions will also be high so you should be able to cover all of your expenses with just 1 deal basically, maybe 2. 

Here’s how to handle those:•Negotiate inspection costs into your deal—in some cases, sellers will cover them.

  $6,500 x .75 = $4,200 which covers $4,000 PITI. 

s post and Dave Foster's response cover the options concerning 1031 exchanges.

I used a HELOC to cover the down payment, appraisal gap, and furniture, allowing me to enter the STR market without depleting cash reserves.

In February I purchased a brand new 3 bed 3 bath duplex for 479k at 6.18%.