When ready, I would use house hacking as your first method of obtaining your first rental.

I have obtained an absentee owners list for areas that I believe will have some good investment opportunities (Clairemont, Bay Ho, Bay Park, SDSU, Spring Valley, and La Mesa).

Originally posted by @David Dachtera:All I can do is what I do in every encounter: encourage you to get educated so you rely more on knowledge and intelligence than on defaulting to "conventional wisdom" and popular points of view.Now David, such a condescending retort was quite unnecessary, but I do hope you obtained some cathartic benefit from it.

Steven my current interest is to utilize a VA loan entitlement to obtain a Multi-family property.

I'm curious where most folks here are obtaining debt.  

I would like to obtain my real estate license as soon as possible this year and I currently live in Eugene, OR.

Capital is the easiest thing to obtain when a good deal presents itself.

What financing do you have in place to obtain your first flip?

One of the properties is occupied however, I have been unsuccessful at obtaining the name of the current occupants/residents.  

Obtaining your real estate license is a good idea and @Chris Romany pointed out some excellent reasons.Doing what you want to do is the best guide for moving forward on your ideas.