I would argue that if you do not want to manage someday, the small apartment is easier to hire a management company/person for than 3 separate 4-units. 

IF the market pulls back significantly , glendale will lose money just like everywhere else even if on a % basis its not as much the out right dollar amount at this point could be much more because this time the AV hasnt appreciated as much from the bottom whereas glendale has exceeded those levels from past highs.. but it can be argued that in AV i buy 3  250k places and now i have diversification of tenants and will still get like 1500 a door for a comparable size house in glendale....Its MUCH harder to find a tenant to pay 3500+ in rent vs a tenant to pay 1500 in rent (esp if govt subsidized) ....not to say that there arent bad tenants everywhere im just saying if i look at things somewhat equal.not to mention glendale is very likely reaching a point of overbuild with these mega projects all up and down brand / central blvd which could weaken rent prices or at least create a longer time to fill...anyway my point is that i am trying to make a prudent decision and mitigate all the risks as much as possible in order to make a good decision and hope this feedback has helped other readers as well... i am not really sold on AV which is why i wanted to have this discussionthanks for the feedback

Not here to argue, just to learn. 

It's hard to argue with numbers. 1+1=2.

Although as a professional seller IE new home builder and high volume retail flipper I don't usually argue about EMD unless its like the one stated above last day and it really did harm us. that's a high priced home almost 400k and interest carry and remarketing will cost us.I had another one in PA last year were the guy buying it .. did the same thing day of closing would not sign.. he had 5k in ..

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Some may argue, why would you pay MLS list price?

@Lawrence Moore so many people on BiggerPockets argue leverage and more doors to the point you would think it is the only way to succeed.

I would argue that what you just described (prolonged period of low interest rates/ negative interest rates with an economy just muddling along) is VERY BULLISH for real estate.

I argue all the time that what a lot of people do with real estate is not as much investing as they think.