We look at it more like a long term (3-5 year) flip that minimizes costs such as realtor fees, concessions, most closing costs, and short term capital gains where the tenant pays down the mortgage on the property until they exercise the option.  

You'll learn a lot through this exercise.  

These events typically consist of a 5 or 6 hour bus trip, visiting 5 or 6 properties (BTW, a sample bus trip is included in the R2R event), followed by a social gather that includes food and drink. 

The ultimate exercise in futility.

Chart out all the worst case scenarios and see how your contract can protect you in those scenarios .I know talking to Attorneys is not the most pleasant thing when you are paying 400 $/hr , but if the project is large scale or if you intend to do this on a regular basis , get the contract drafted by an attorney well versed in litigation/arbitration/mediation .I have been doing this exercise since the past 15 days  so if any one is in this phase of hiring a contractor , we could definitely bounce some ideas off

Written by attorney investors, it's full of practical advice pertaining to management of investment property, has sample forms that can be edited, and - most importantly - they tell you what your primary state laws are and where you can read them.

Security deposit amountYou can find plenty of examples by searching for "tenant estoppel certificate doc" or exchange "doc" with "pdf" for more options.Here is an example and explanation: Sample EstoppelSome have a lot of legal jargon but this document does not need to be so detailed.

@David Cole there is risk in everything you do, I like what David Greene says on the podcast, "there is risk of getting hurt if you go to the gym and exercise, but there is also risk of being unhealthy and not living as long if you don't go to the gym and exercise. " He also says the same idea applies to real estate investing.All of the things you mentioned are risks that could happen if you invest, but they pail in comparison to the risk of working a job the rest of your life and never achieving your financial goals if you don't invest.I have found that the easiest way to mitigate risk as an investor is to have extra reserves, use a lot of leverage and offset it with reserves (6-12 months of PITI payments).It's smart that you want to learn as much as you can before you invest, but I would focus more on the big picture and how to get started, don't worry about every detail now, you will learn the details with experience.

I pull out the sample lease, highlight the rules and make sure the applicant READS them and tells me they can live with these rules before I rent the apartment.  

Samples can be found on the New Jersey government website for the rental increase.