My contractor's work on draws so they always have some skin in thegame.

The bottom half was wood panel top was two textures of different wall paper. that's why we decided to tear it down and pay to have it drywalled so it would be all smooth not various textures.

Be careful when you say 'skin in the game' regarding a syndication.

Check out this link: Burn Exposure Chart (antiscald.com)As you can see, having skin under 140 degree water can (and will) cause 3rd degree burns in around 5 seconds. 

What would be the incentive for anyone to fund you, if you don't have any skin in the game, if I understand it correctly, and an investor will not even get the first lien.

You might can assist them with this.For example if they don't know the difference between  orange peel texture, level 5 smooth drywall finish, and Italian plaster, or maybe the difference between LVP, engineered wood, and 3/4" hand scraped hardwoods, or even the difference between softwood and hardwood, then that can perhaps make a difference when showing the house to certain people who do know the difference.What kind of appliances have you used? 

Make sure you each have some skin in the game (your plan sounds great with him spending $250k on materials and you financing house) so that way it is in everyones best interest to show up and get to the finish line.

Nonetheless a house hack will be a great education for your first rental, it will allow you to get some skin in the game at a lower initial cost, and can be a property you move on from in a year or two and repeat with your next home.

Lots of ways to skin the proverbial cat in this industry!

Since these people have no skin in the game, what might be a good strategy for approaching them to see if they can relax some of the restrictions/prices so I can rehab these properties and get them back on the tax roll?