The key is having experience and knowing what to look for so you can bid appropriately and not lose your shirt.

Sponsors who have quickly amassed a portfolio using high-leverage bridge debt might even lose their (and their investors') shirts. 

They may not get their salary, but they now get unemployment and food stamps, or are they getting vacation time/sick leave paid at their salary?  

Would rather lose a couple thousand dollars than my shirt!

I fully appreciate that many of us may rely on or advocate for a moratorium just to not lose our shirt, and to each their own right now, but I would just strongly encourage all of us to learn from this and get our houses in order, in every sense of the term, moving forward.

The cleanest shirts in the dirty hamper to me are EOG and PXD.

Real estate agents are okay to work with but sometimes all sellers agent want is for me to stamp permits on a job no one ever pulled them on so they can close quicker.

The comments of @David Barnett and @Todd Dexheimer are correct.There are other opportunities for you to be in good areas without losing your shirt in the process.

My shirt term goal is to have 5 rental houses mortgage free before I get too far down the road.

I am optimistic that "average Joe" doesn't lose his shirt or feel unnecessarily stressed again.