If the buyer/renter has no skin in the game you will get burnt.

I know its just part of the business and I always told myself that but it is very demoralizing when a house gets trashed...and danged thieves...that really gets under my skin.

You can't be greedy when you have zero track record and with almost the equivalent of no skin in the game.

See http://noteinvestor.com/notes-101/what-is-a-partial-note-purchase/ Note buyers want a big down payment (skin in the game).I don't like owning right now, I like lease option assignments and sandwiches.

That is their only skin in the game for when they move out!

That's one way to learn quickly - when you've got skin in the game.

They want you to have skin in the game.As said above, your best bet is to go to a bank and try to get the down payment.

@John Roeder,First off, if you sell the house without a down payment, the new owner/borrower has no skin in the game, so easy for them to walk.  

The extra cash you think you might be offering to the owners to convince them to let you do this is chump change compared to the risks they experience allowing someone without any skin in the game to take over management of 15 of their units for 5 months.Assuming you move forward - renting them out illegally - then the other considerations of STRs come into play, i.e. are STRs legal in this area? 

Colloquially, this is referred to as skin in the game.