Consistency is key to protecting yourself.

Accordingly, it is crucial to find a competent local real estate lawyer who can prepare the right documents and protect your interest.Of course, you assume the risk of the buyer not paying you, ether thru bad intentions or thru circumstances beyond his control, like loss of employment, accident, illness, divorce etc.

What other things should I consider to make things simple but also protect me from headaches.

@Shanai RogersI agree completely with @Stephen J Davis that you need to protect your credit by paying all your bills on time.

But more experienced hosts who have the time and investment to protect often communicate with guests to find a bot more about them; like what they do, why are they coming, who are the members of their party. 

I'd be willing to write an offer on certain properties sight unseen if I can be sufficiently protected by an inspection contingency, but I have no way to know what its length needs to be.

What are you doing to prepare to protect yourself financially?

It is literally one piece of paper and a 1-line addendum, but the purpose of it is to protect your deposit.

My question is if something happens with a tenant and they decide to sue will my personal assets still be protected since the loan is on my personal record. 

Then how do we protect ourselves and what does the due diligence process look like?