There's a lot of ways to skin s cat with the virtual stuff.  

Most lenders like to see you have some "skin in the game" , so may need a down payment and some closing costs at the very least - however , there are still opportunities to wholesale or bird dog which does not require down payment money but may be a lot more difficult without a marketing budget.

The best thing you can do when you are first starting out is to team up with a mentor to get some skin in the game for your first few deals. 

I don't have a skin in this game.  

You'd want some kind of commitment (or skin in the game) so that you knew you weren't wasting your time on someone who had no intentions in buying your house.As an investor, it's dependent.

Kris has a hard time with the tenant and now has to pay on the mortagage but has no income and like he said he only put 500 down to get the house so NO SKIN in the game.. and he just decides screw it not my deal I am out of here.. he walks with not a worry poor owner gets his credit SMASHed to smitherins.. this is why I don't like Sub too in most instances for a seller.. they just don't understand the risk they are taking and of course those that want to buy really could care less about a seller its all about them

They want you to have done skin in the game especially if you are new.

Purchasing tools, such as an email domain, proves you have skin in the game.

My skin is crawling.

Being a landlord mean being thick skinned, being able to be objective, and to some degree having to be 'the bad guy" sometimes - not everyone is comfortable taking on these roles - best of luck to you - I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this turns out.