We are going to pay a premium compared to other neighborhoods, though it must meet my fundamentals.  

This is highly dependent on the property fundamentals, financials, location, etc. 

The fundamentals mainly the cost per sq ft of  SFR are lower than multifamily - herein lies the opportunity.Torrance is a hot market but maybe you can go a little east or south, Hawthorne or San Pedro etcI assume you are looking to house hack to live there.Multifamily prices are high and tough to make the numbers work even as owner occupied assuming you are not putting down more than 35% etc.So here is my 2 cents on an ADU/house hack concept1.

I'd like to have as many fundamentals in place and ready to move before I actually put eyes on property, or at the least before I actually ink any deals.

But the fundamental question I'm hearing inside your post is 'Do I want to be a landlord of these houses from a distance and are they the best way to make money"?  

He would be teaching kids lessons and fundamentals ADULTS go and pay $40k for!

Buy on fundamentals like location, quality, square footage, yard size/slope.  

Again I know nothing about the market, but I just don't know that the fundamentals of what you are describing (or at least my interpretation) make sense.

Personally I think the market fundamentals are strong here, the population will continue growing and that increasing demand with limited supply will continue driving prices up, but nobody actually knows.

The fundamental strategy of good multi-family investors is simple: never sell.