I personally know quite a few people who took on the IRS and emerged victorious.

Scottsdale requires the owner to provide emergency contact information to the city and assess a fine to the property owner if they don't.

This is not an emerging or undervalued area.

An emergency septic service cleaning can provide temporary relief, but this is often a futile exercise in battling mother nature.Conserve water to minimize the load on your septic system.

The 2nd floor is always more challenging than the 1st floor but renting a lift gets you past the height issue.The main reasons I replace with standard sizes, I can check for water intrusion, I can insulate better, I can replace with dual pane, the windows are easier to open in an emergency, they are easier to replace in the future when a baseball goes through them, they look better and they increase value.

Digging a new well cost us $9500, while the emergency plumbing, hazmat cleanup, and repairs for the septic pipe and basement cost us another $5000.Lesson #4: Don't panic and don't act based on emotion. 

Cash reserves also include an owner's ability to borrow, getting to other sources of funds for emergencies and being able to carry short term debt.Multi, 5+ units are more to condition and net worth along with reserves and that is considering the debt coverage ratio, a minimum of 125%, better at 175% or more. 6 months PITI is still valid, that may well move out to 12 months as a compensating factor.Compensating factors are those aspects of the property, net worth, income and management experience that may out weigh a borrower's lacking in other areas.

I do not want to drain my emergency fund in order to have the funds to pay for the down payment and would rather leverage the equity I already have.

No emergency.

If you did your yields would be better, but of course you would have no shared appreciation.Since you've put the 3hr limit on distance from LA, a preference for appreciation (I assume over yearly cash flow) and noted you're handy I'd suggest looking into a emerging B or C market in LA.