I am stationed in Washington D.C. and will be transitioning out of the military in about 9 months so I don't necessarily want to buy here and then have to move across the country and attempt to manage while in California. 

@Ian Ippolito, i always find your comments very insightful.As a long time HML who within the last 18 months transitioned to a crowdfunding platform, I believe that the answer to the question of why HML funds have had much more success than HML crowdfunding sites are 1.

If/when I make this transition, what do I need to do to get it publicly registered as a quadplex, so I can start enacting all my schemes?

One particular client was working with a mentor trying to transition out of his work as a physician.

Some other interesting side-effects: properties right now elevated in value by closeness to commuter rail stations may lose that premium if the self-driving cars make mass transit obsolete, and municipalities are going to compete with each other much more strongly on all benefits OTHER than their location (e.g. school quality, property taxes, ordinances, crime).

I want to transition into investing full time.

On one hand, I am relatively young and willing to take on some risk for the potential to more quickly propel myself to a level where I can leave my w2 job and transition to full-time REI.

As others have suggested, there is reason to believe your assumptions are off.I see a lot of wholesalers in town pitching 2 bedroom / 1 bath houses < 1,000 s.f. in "transitional" neighborhoods with ARV at this level.  

I need about 10-15 for use as transitional housing and sober living. 

Any good property management company will be ok with this (though you may get the sales pitch) and let them know that if you eventually stop self managing you would be happy to consider them.As a property manager myself I would be happy to give all info to the new owner and make sure the transition is smooth.