If I don't find a buyer in 45 days, I lose the contract.

I would also suggest putting more emphasis on a broker’s licenses as opposed to just an agent’s license.OK, now you know how to find a real Investor Friendly Real Estate Agent.

But, for the time being I'll be doing more traditional statistical analyses, albeit with an emphasis on the Bayesian.

If things go bad you can walk away and lose nothing.

If they don't bite now people have a way of changing their mind the day before an auction and they realize they are going to lose the house.

Turn key single family rentals are a hard way to lose.

Make sure you can get into a conventional loan or you can flip it without losing money.

When conditions get like this, in any type of market, it's a signal that a significant number of people are going to lose money - whether it's from buying stocks that look like they'll just keep going up, or buying houses that are in a bubble. 

Then I was hooked bought a rental jointly with an older guy who was a realtor because the bust made him lose his construction company. 

This protects you if the tenant doesn't pay you won't lose any rental income at all and it won't cost you the eviction and you won't be chasing them for the next 10 years hoping for a few scrapes of their money.