A skin care company I consult with here in Columbus OH is currently applying for a substantial business loan to help them prepare to scale this next year. 

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

@Mark Huneycutt - no matter where you invest - nobody is going to loan you a boat full of cash for renovations without significant skin in the game to yourself and cost.

Which means you just need some kind of skin in the game, it could be as little as $1. 

Some 700 fico is the min, others are not lending, others are asking for more skin on the game. 

Here it is:1 - Take three full leg/thighs of chicken, boil them in water to get most of the grease off.2 - Cover the bottom of a lasagna pan with white rice.3 - Place the chicken on the rice, and cover rice with water to the point of making the rice wet...not to float the rice4 - with the skin side down, bake for 90 minutes at 3505 - Turn chicken over and baste, then bake chicken for another 30 minutes, or until the skin is crispy6 - Serve...no wait...That's my wife's recipe for chicken and rice.  

You should put some skin in the game though so maybe you bring 10% to the deal.

The wire mesh is tough on skin.

I had to put down a "skin" amount roughly equal to 20% of the all in deal price.

To put the performance of these bonds into context, I feel performance is less FICO driven vs. a combination of skin in the game and experience as you alluded to.