I would leave the emotion at the door and maybe even have a third party with you and determine a schedule moving forward.

That being said, if enough people get scared prices may fall due to a temporary dip in tourism.

It seems that once a market becomes hot, it's much harder for newer investors to get in and not get burned because there is more risk created by the higher prices and buyers who are purchasing emotionally.  

Also instead of paying for rent and temporary mortgages when flipping houses we could stick to one payment.

Your normally dealing with people that just don't have the emotional energy anymore to deal with the problems.

I would try to time it with student loan dispersals , but yes an "out" for graduaion might be good - you could make them temporary airbnb style rentals or get an early start leasing to out of state students.

Or perhaps these extreme emotional reactions are what put them in that distressed position in the first place.

Every situation is different, and you can tailor this numbers to whatever you are comfortable with, but if you use this as a stepping off point, it will help you to avoid making an emotional purchase. 

This will be temporary.

But they do exist, and terms aren't temporary either.