How can you present skin in the game to show you're serious and not just another giant time-waster looking to receive instead of give. 

We have to have thick skins as investors.

It may be beneficial to put in some skin in the game so you know you won't be upside down on the mortgage payments. 

There are a ton of ways to skin the same cat if you just know how much you want per month in cash.

Hey Juan, when working with borrowers I usually look for somebody with experience (atleast 3 projects done), approved permits for the build, and at least 15% of the project financed by the borrower so they have some skin in the game (plus enough cash to close and make at least 6 months of interest-only payments).

They want you to have skin in the game on a higher risk second home and a HELOC does this since it is money coming from the equity in your primary home.For a second home you can find places that will allow you to put down 10% instead of 20%.

Once you build a capital stack and gain experience you can move to cheaper capital that may require a little more skin in each deal.

While higher free cash flow will boost IRR, it is not the only factor for returns.

It really irritates me to see how the staff treat them.  

Note that I do not put a lot of time into due diligence until the "contract to hold" meeting, when they put some skin in the game.At the "contract to hold" meeting, I collect an amount equal to one month's rent.