The west coast will likely be very similar to NY in that you won't be able to find purchases prices low enough to warrant higher cash flow.

I agree that the cost difference of PEX-A doesn't warrant going with B.

Do you have enough need in this area to warrant getting the necessary licensing and set up for it?

The sheriff is the only person who may remove  property from the premises and this can be done only after the landlord has been  awarded a warrant and their personal property must be physically removed from  the premises described in the warrant. 

But scope and charter of these two businesses would warrant two separate entities, IMO.

Since you mentioned that it is for a long term hold, I would also consider the LLC route despite its costs - if the size of your deal warrants it.There are certainly risks (but that's what insurance is for) - but you can just own the property as tenant in common (so you'll be under title). 

The achieved rents didn't warrant much investment.

It was warranted as I've been learning a lot from you:http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/1762...Thanks for your input Brian,Dave J.

I would hope her job would warrant that type of expense. 

For what it's worth, I tour and underwrite 100s of large multifamily properties around the country each year.99.9% of the time, I use the 50% rule for my initial back-of-the-envelope analysis to see if the property warrants more time and investigation.Sure, it's not an exact science and if you have time to run numbers and investigate every deal great, but these guidelines were created by (and for) people who have to make very quick decisions on whether or not a property is worth further investigation.And funny enough, the company I work for owns over 45 large multifamily properties (~9,000 units).