Personally, I'd be nervous to not get some type of deposit from my guest because I like for them to have "skin in the game" 

On the flip side, tighter regulations or changes in interest rates could shift market dynamics.

They want an investor to have some serious skin in the game.The other option would be to wholesale this opportunity to somoene and make a few bucks to save so you have some money for a downpayment in the future.

As a new STR investor, hire dynamic pricing to help you manage revenue.

At this point, we are three years in, and have learned that you sometimes have to have thick skin (grit) in dealing with tenants, managers, and RV site visitors; while maintaining a sense of humor and humility.

There are several great ones in Dallas, but I'll bet these days most want you to have some skin in the game, so no 100% financing and also financing of renovation costs. 

If you don't pay he gets the park back and your asset.That would put me at more ease, knowing that you have skin in the game, and are going to pay me.Gino

The other options you are playing with fire as using a HELOC that is paying interest is essentially buying with 100% financing.Having no skin in the game has always been a high risk strategy and people were able to get away with it the past few years due to the money supply and inflation but I would not use that as the measuring stick.

We do quite a lot of small-mid size multifamily in Reno which has somewhat similar dynamics to Sac, but with some key differences in terms of property taxes, landlord laws, etc. 

As you can imagine, it drastically cuts down on the amount of water use when the tenants have skin in the game.