I pay the bank 640$ a month and the seller $200 a month for a net loss of 15$ per month, plus I pay insurance and property taxes out of pocket, for about 800$ per year.

That, coupled with the possibility of a lawsuit or buyers agent commission obligation if they violate the contract and back out, might convince them to cut their losses and eat the balance of their mistake.

2) Are there other downsides besides the loss of liability protection of not having an LLC own the property?

I foresee big losses in next one-two years.

There are really two camps on this one....1 - Many people believe, as Al said, that there's more value in the links from the stolen content then there is loss from others using your content.

BUT that will come at a much higher risk because the newbie's lack of experience might cause the deal to result in a loss, and if you are a newbie too you can't add much value to prevent the deal from going awry.

If you sell at less than $170K, then you may have a deductible investment loss.

I am trying to lock in with all my renters because at this level I am producing fantastic returns and the downside risk outweighs the upside potential loss

Being a RE agent specialized in loss mit negotiations, I learned alot of good and bad concepts and expectations.

If its negative, that's a passive loss.