@Chris Seveney  chris is suggesting a money partner and mostly these are done through syndications were your the sponsor but most investor want to know the sponsor has some skin in the game and is going to be there at the end or if the going gets tough.

If this last comment puts you off, forget about being a real estate investor, your skin isn't tough enough. 

On the surface it sounds like it should be doable for most portfolio lenders 

You need a thick skin for this though because most people will think you're a scammer trying to steal people's houses LOL!

I figured there was more than one way to skin a cat so curious about other success stories, strategies, books, etc on how people grew the number of rentals.

On the surface you will need $6K per month minimum to get positive cash flow from a property in that price range.

Is there something morally wrong with having “no skin in the game” other than leveraging your personal credit and reputation?

I wouldn't just tape those up.....Hard to tell on pix, but it may just be dust that is accumulating in areas due to normal air circulation/turbulence....if that's the case, you really just need to clean the unit up...... dust will kill the efficiency of cooling unitsWorst case is that its something liquid leaking and its blowing that material across that surface and dirt is sticking to thatBy sealing it up without knowing the issue, you are just encasing the issue out of site and will likely just postpone needing to deal with it.Id take the covers off and take  a better look....my gut is that's it dust material

Lead me to that Lender, not requiring him/me to have any skin in the game!

They have more skin in the game then you do.Make sure you get clear title.