In conclusion, I would still look in the hood for the right deals, you just gotta have thick skin!

Shell out 10's of thousands to a turnkey seller, who has no skin in the game, and makes his/her money up front, will pass the buck and give excuses should things go wrong, or shell it out to a local investor, who has found the property, has their own $$ in the deal, and doesn't want a foreclosure on their record.Then there are joint ventures, discounted mortgages, a whole bunch of ways to make cash flow.

(This is my first income property analysis, so be gentle…LOL)Asking price- $130,000Down Payment $5,000 (3.85% I know not much skin in the game)Required maintenance $0 (I am not naïve enough to believe this, but haven’t gotten any concrete data to refute this claim (By the owner).

One of his ideas was to break the loan into somewhat 2 loans: The first being a % of the Down Pmt that is personally guaranteed and will be paid off first giving owner the 'skin' in the game so to speak...Its all wrapped into one but a small portion is personally guaranteed.He said he didn't need money down either but when you get down to it, putting a little down solves the problem.

If you consider it you should require they pay 4 months in advance.This will cover them paying the first months rent,time to immediately evict them if they violate a provision in the lease,and cover paint and carpet again.If they violate the lease for any reason all the money paid upfront is NON-REFUNDABLE.Don't just stick a tenant in there to put one in.Make them meet extra security demands or wait on a better tenant to come along.You have to make a tenant like that have a bunch of "skin" in the game.They may or may not have reformed themselves and if they have they should not mind putting extra down.

i dont know of any banks allowing a seller to hold your downpayment...not saying its not possible, but most want skin in the game....good luck and let us know :)

Without a relationship, they'll generally go about 65% of purchase price... with a relationship they'll go 65% of ARV.If they don't know you, expect to be paying for the rehab on your own and putting skin into the purchase.

As an out of state investor wanting someone with skin in the game to care about the property, some kind of partnership comes to mind.Know a young guy, who is the son of a friend, who is buying property in a southern area that is conducive to cash flow.Understanding how one person that carries all the burden could feel like they are getting the short end of the deal, I wonder what kind of arrangement would be fair where one lives in the area, finds property and keeps track of it, while the other investor is out of town too busy to be involved.I have more capital and credit than does my young friend so my contribution would lean more towards the capital side but that makes the partnership lopsided.

If they are stock sizes, it might be more cost effective in the long term to replace completetly; but that depends on how the windows tie into your existing building skin.

If I ran a bank, I'd want skin in the game.