The number of houses on the market has also gone up 24% with the number of sales down 3% and prices only up 1% from the same time in 2018.So with all these indicators of a pending recession, how does someone planning to retire in the next three to five years mitigate losses and stay on track?

It is reasonable to expect that a bad market or unexpected costs will hurt our results, everything I describe above is designed to mitigate our losses.

So to mitigate that you need to come in with a much larger down payment so the agent can get paid and the seller gets a wad of cash.Now when things were super tough in the industry in the Carter years  .. 

Get a water damage mitigation service out but have the service contract with the tenant (so you do not get the bill).  

The basic premise of the steps above is to calculate/mitigate your risk.  

I also read that low LTV is the best risk mitigation tool that a note investor may have.

If not, then I'd discount it a lot more to mitigate the risk.In Atlanta, you either had termites in the past or will have termites.

If you and/or the original seller is stuck making these payments while there is no mortgage money coming in then this is a huge risk that should be mitigated via paperwork your attorney prepares.

I NEED HELP...Does anybody have a number to the loss mitigation department at AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE SERVICING INC?

You identify the risks upfront and mitigate them.