I appreciate any and all input you may have.A bit of backstory; I'm a 29 year old design consultant in Los Angeles who has been very much into commodities and equities trading for the last 5 years.

I have since relocated to Los Angeles and I'm making a career move into full time real estate.

good explanation would love to find some properties that could follow this rule or the 2% rule, near the beach cities in Los Angeles.....

I am in the Los Angeles, CA area. 

I have plenty of experience doing flips in OC and Los Angeles counties. 

Places like Cincinnati , Cleveland , Pittsburgh and even Detroit .Many of these cities are investing quite a bit into revitalization of their downtowns .Take a look at what has happened in Over the Rhine in Cincinnati .. it used to be one of Americans most dangerous neighborhoods and now there are tons of loft buildings selling for high amounts and tons of hipster/trendy restaurants and bars there .Once that neighborhood goes away up people usually look to the next neighborhood that is cheaper then that becomes the hip area .At least this is what i have seen happen over the years in Los Angeles .

Trust me I understand that having initial cash flow is preferable to not having cash flow, but as most of you know in my market (Los Angeles area) having initial cash flow is tough when rents are commonly nowhere near the 1% rule.  

I would also check out some comps and see what they are putting into their units.I am also in Los Angeles and have been investing over the USA just like you.

Here’s a duplex my wife and I acquired just over a year ago in the Los Angeles area. 

I got to the point where I paid and attended one of David Lindahl's "Multifamily Million" boot camp that was held in Los Angeles.