People fail because they do not prepare, and do insufficient due diligence.

I'd call that a fail.

This was a weird one, I took on significant risk in a few different ways.Side-note, after I sold the property was sued by the buyer, the well failed and they did not have it inspected.

This sounds like a year or more of failing to pay.I would contact the utility company and determine whether they can place a lien against the property.

Spell out the criteria required to occupy on your application and what happens if they fail to meet those standards.

Listening to the BP Podcast and reading the forums are giving me more confidence I guess I just got to get out there and give it a try and not be scared to fail.

Has anyone had experience/success in contacting owners of properties that failed to sell at public auction, shortly after auction closes?

I like the idea of 6 months of opperating reserves if everything fails.   

One thing you are failing to account for is the HUGE amount of money in the Bay Area chasing assets like real estate.

I am profitable enough to do just about whatever I'd like, including "Go big or go home"... in other words, if I did something in REI and totally failed, I've got enough back up income and assets to have a home where I could go!