Secondly RE requires thick skin sometimes.

I will lend all day to any rehabber who is:1. experienced - I need to see at least 5 HUD settlement statements, pictures of prior rehab work2. liquid - with adequate reserves (6 months of rehab loan interest payments in his bank account)3. good credit is preferred specially if you are not that experiencedBy the way, $250K/$300K is not 70% - that's 83% LTV.Lastly, I prefer one with "skin in the game" (10-20% downpayment - with me funding 80-90% of the project cost).If you don't have any experience, any money or any credit, approaching rehab lenders or hard money lenders is NOT an option.

This would allow you to buy pure rentals with 20% down .There are lots of way to "skin the cat".

,Assuming that you're not personally managing your property (which I don't recommend unless you have the time, experience, and thick skin to do so), what benefit do you expect to gain for a property that's "closer"?

Some of the hard  money guys will require 10, 15, 20% "skin in the game" as long as you show you have the reserves.However, on buy and hold, which I suspect you're more interested in, I just don't think that exists with 10% down.

When purchasing new properties, this includes inherited liability from former and/or abandoned USTs;2) In residential properties - particular student rentals - tenant frequently allow the fuel tank to run dry which leads to all sorts of extra problems (priming and/or relighting the furnace; clogged burners; frozen pipes, etc) and costs.

Looks like to me the owner wants you to have a lot of skin in the game, which makes sense.

Skin in the game is VERY important :) That is for ANY state.

The OP is a little off on your math, but banks usually want 10% as skin in the game, 15% is better, the bank may take 75/70% or less with the seller making up the difference.

@Steve Trotta   I would think you want your investors lined up prior to offering.. experience helps along with putting some skin in the game