Poway, you can ride out the squeezes by not overleverdging your self. For example, I wouldn’t recommend shorting more than 40% of your account value for starters. Typically you can margin up to around 80% of your account (talk to your broker for the exact formula). So this means that the stock you short would have to literally double in value before you would be subject to a margin call. This magnitude of a short squeeze is highly unlikely from any homebuilder stocks.
Look at the charts of the homebuilder stocks since last Fall to give you an idea of the real world volatility. There are definitely no upward spikes of that magnitude. I recommend following the lead of PD, do a small quantitiy of short sells just to get your feet wet and I think your understanding and confidence will improve.