This gave us a clear idea of all the details we needed to know in terms of paint color, floor, and other key fixes such as windows, doors, and cabinets.

To me it feels more like a game of chess, to my wife it was a lot more emotional, we had a couple tenants that really got under her skin, at least in the beginning.

And most will be able to pay the taxes when they come due, and put on a new roof, and put on a new coat of paint.As well as replace the carpets, cut the grass on a regular basis, replace the windows, reseal the chimneys when the liners crack, etc..It's unlikely that that these homes will fall into the slum category in 10 years or so, and make the asset underlying the loan virtually worthless.Or just vanish when the place starts to fall apart too much, due to no down-payment (no skin in the game 100% loans).Said the lawmakers who approved this.

External is usually where they want to approve the color of the house, types of materials, roofing, landscaping, driveway condition, etc.

So I require skin in the game (average is 5% to 15%) to offset this.

I know there are some people out there who do this and put an assignment in place to be recorded if the loan defaults.As with so many things in REI, there are multiple ways to skin the cat, and it has a lot to do with your level of risk and your partial investor's level of risk.I do teach a 4 hour live class on this. 

I have seen doors swing wide open and shadowy-figures emerging from the darkness.

Nicholas, There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, the important thing is you take action.

We want something neither light nor dark—maybe a mid-tone that won’t show too much wear.

Hi Kyle,This is the most common question I get asked.Don't waste your time because nobody in their right mind is going to fund 100% of your project.In order to get into new deals, build, buy, flip etc. you need to have some skin in the game.A bridge loan to get the cash out of the property on the market is possible, that can then help get you the cash needed and start this new build.