However I would like the flexibility to have the money allocated to any deal I see as profitable for my investors.I also plan to invest my own money into this fund, I want my investors to know that I also have skin in the game and have both of our best interests in mind. 

Which is why we need to get some skin the game, Bonnie :-)

On a first glance I thought "no", but giving it a closer look and for having no skin in the game I don't think the numbers are too terrible to consider.

:) I'm just happy people don't get irritated by our terrible jokes ;)

Best thing about REI...tons of ways to skin the cat!

If there's one common thing among all commercial lenders, its that they want you to have some skin in the game...

It seems to me no new syndicator is going to put much skin in the game when their is a lot of dumb money flooding the market chasing returns with margins thinning nationally.

And most of these deals are not as investor friendly as the accredited offerings (very often they have very little skin in the game, much higher fees, etc.). 

@Lee R.Thanks man, it takes a lot of sacrificing, tough skin, and some luck.

A formal education can be valuable as you will need to educate yourself on the space one way or another prior to just jumping in but nothing can take the place of the experience gained by doing deals.Your options for obtaining experience are to continue your investing activities while educating yourself, hire a mentor to help you do a deal, passively invest in a development project and learn along the way or get a job working for a developer.Development is risky, difficult, time consuming and requires thick skin and a lot of capital but it is very rewarding in a lot of ways not just financially.