Like an LLC, however, the costs are enough to incentivize me to scale a bit first (provided I can do so legally). 

I am currently looking for areas that would support a new small scale apartment building, 4 - 12 units.

Lots of good info in this threadhttp://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/125040-how-do-you-scale-your-business-so-quickI have went from 4 units to 42 units in about 3.5 years using the land-contract purchase/small bank refi method.

You can learn to be a landlord and property manage on a smaller scale.

Multiple houses built in multiple years can have different PM's to manage whereas larger commercial properties have scale and less headaches with management.Some things such as single NNN you just collect a check.

Jerry, "the pay really is more equal for sexes than most other professions"That is an interesting statement as I also read that there is a discrepancy in the pay scale in most professions between men and women whether you are  software engineer, physician, lawyer, accountant etc, but there is an even playing field between men and woman in how much one makes in real estate sales. 

There are economies of scale though and for a 5 unit it was I think $2200.  

Check out my page to see what I do in the manufactured home industry.

So its an investment in time, effort and training to get this going but as we scale up the number of flips we do then I think we'll be in a good position.  

I have only experience in one-off requests like an electrical permit, residential general repair permit, etc (and those were bad enough) but have heard it can be a nightmare with a total construction permit, especially if large-scale clearing of trees (arborists permit) is required.