Multi's can mitigate some vacancy concerns because it's unlikely all units will be vacant at the same time.

Buying in lower markets is a form of loss mitigation.

In my experience , as long as you properly screen tenants and have a fair-yet-firm relationship with them, you can mitigate most problems.

What are some tricks to mitigate risks as much as possible?

Usually if something is going to be done in a wetlands area, there must be some kind of mitigation created to replace the wetlands area that was displaced.

Keep in mind, a landlard needs to mitigate the loss and is not permitted to double dip. 

Just curious to know if anyone has found ways to mitigate these repairs/expenses.

Many astute investors will get a longer term loan than needed for the property strategy to help mitigate the risk of economic cycles.Hope that helps.

Bad neighborhoods often attract sketchy tenants (but you can mitigate this by really doing your homework at the application process).  

As an investor with fairly high leverage right now, I take several factors into consideration to assess the risk of this leverage, and get a level of comfort with what the risk mitigants I have in place:- How much excess cash flow do I have to cover vacancies, potential decreases in rents, to catch up re-filling reserves, etc..- How secure are my cash flows?