These might not get you to where you want on the loan amount, but they will limit costs and help on the backend. 

do you have a credit card with a 20k limit?

We will need to sell our current home that we own outright due to limitations on renting it out due to recent wildfires.

In San Diego, there are virtually zero properties that meet this requirement (I managed to purchase a quad recently that met the requirement, but they are real rare).This in effect implies that FHA cannot be used for triplex or quad in San Diego (excluding finding a unicorn like deal) and that you likely limited to duplex and SFH.I suspect if you do find a triplex to quad that meets the sustainability requirement that 1) it would be off market 2) it may not qualify for FHA for some other reason. 

Limited capital, high prices, and low supply doesn't yield great long term wealth building. 

Limit your out of pocket costs so you can grow.

That would cover your student loan as well as your higher PITI, and the assets you buy should outlive your debt payments.Things we don't know that affect your planning:A) conventional cash out refis are generally limited to 80% LTV.  

There are a myriad of ways to structure acquisitions, only limited by your creativity. 

You could limit advertising to reduce that likelihood of a Section 8 renter finding it.

Plus, I'm taking the perspective of an investor who isnt so concerned with reaching the limit of 10 rentals from conventional lending.For the MF investors in SA, is there more that I should think about as I look into MF investing and developing a strategy in SA?