I was leaning toward multifamily to house hack and be able to save for a second more permanent house sooner.   

I'd just keep learning and wait until you're in your permanent location.Mike

Additionally, I'm hoping to wait till I settle somewhere more permanently.

Upto 4 units is residential --lendingthen Small apartments --may be upto 20 or 40 units --or loans under $1.5 millionThere are many other expenses --to be paid upfront --such as Appraisal and Inspection, Environmental Report and Engineeing Report if older property-- There is Bridge Loan and Permanent loan -- Are you buying to hold ?

@Lior Reich , you find a permanent location ( a restaurant, a coffee, an organization that has a large meeting room that you can rent for free), you choose a specific day and time per month (ex: Second Tuesday of every month) and choose a time that will work for everyone, so probably after work.When you got this in place, find some speakers in the industry that will be willing to talk for free: other successful investors, lenders, real estate brokers, etc, create a flyer and then start marketing your event on BP, in your area, on Meetup.com, craigslist, wherever you think you can reach the people willing to invest. 

If your going to hold the deal as a rental of some kind after the rehab, then your going to need permanent financing of some kind?

Are you coming back to So-Cal permanently or just to visit?

Her reasoning was that most of the housing out there is intended for visitors and tourists and that there isn't enough permanent residents living there to actually raise a fuss.

Also, how to prevent people who are not on the lease live in the property permanently?

Streets must either be devoted to public use and maintenance, or private streets protected by permanent recorded Easements.The remaining economic life, as determined by the appraisal, must be greater than or equal to the term of the proposed mortgage.