Well, if I'm buying to flip and it's going to cost me 3-5 months of time, effort, holding costs, risk, etc, and I'm only going to make $30k off the final sale then it serves to reason that the wholesaler would make less because they have less skin in the game.

Again, other might feel differently here.b) Skin in the game: as a conservative investor, I understand that the dirty secret of industries that the waterfall compensation is in the line with me and incentivizes sponsors to take more risk.

As it was my first opportunity to get some skin in the game, I jumped on the deal and we agreed on a 5 year ballon (4% rate, amortized at 15 yrs).

The buyer must have 20% to 30% "skin in the game." 

and you can find an almost unlimited variation on risk ( from low to high leverage, both floating and fixed rate debt, from no to high skin in the game, etc).

Does the sponsor have skin in the game?

You have no skin in the game! 

There are many ways to skin a cat in syndication.  

Problem is theres slim to none investors that are going to allow you to get into a property with zero skin in the game. 

I can’t stress enough how important it is to stay focused and avoid some of these common pitfalls early on.Quick thoughts:Find the right Realtor – Make sure they’ve got some skin in the game with househacking or investment experience.Budget = Game Plan – That pre-approval is your marching orders.