You could put some of your money into the property so you have some skin in the game.

@Nick Noon  in certain asset class's those are true statements.but not all real estate is like that.. there are many many different ways to skin the RE cat.some of the most profitable 99% of the folks reading this won't have a clue about.your talking about what the herd does. 

Usually they would want you to have skin in the game on the purchase side.What are your expenses specifically?

Red flags;4/40 cents on the dollar is an amateurish term, it is 40% LTV.You're putting no money into it, you have no skin in the game.You plan to have it vacant for a year to try and get cap gains.  

This LLC should be completely separate from everything else.Your other questions are more difficult to answer as really we are talking about different ways to skin a cat.  

I agree with Michael and I find we always need skin in the game as well  to make the deal happen.

Lots of ways to skin the cat, just try to be flexible on your exit strategies and give yourself a few ways out. 

(I have had it happen) I understand that money partners are going to want you to have some skin in the game, because if something goes wrong somebody has to cover the surprises.

The security deposit you have is there ONLY skin in the game.

Generally the more skin in the game you have .