Investing in an expensive area (or not)
So, I live in an expensive Southern California area near the coast. The average home around here is $500k. If you're lucky you'll find something at $350k. The cheapest properties are mobile homes between $50-100k with at least $1k/mo in rent; also, those are nearly all 55+ communities.
I make poverty-level wages, live with parents, have no debts, and am therefore able to save a good chunk of what I make. The goal is to be able to save up enough to begin investing, but I don't even qualify for a loan for the amount that properties here cost.
I went through the BP Beginner's guide, but it's really hard to apply anything to my own situation when the properties he's looking at are $32k.
Is real estate investing just a pipe dream for me? Obviously I could move to another part of the country where cheap real estate exists, but uprooting for the sake of speculative finances doesn't seem wise psychologically for me.
Are there any practical steps for investing in my situation? Or even just getting my foot in the door somehow, somewhere?