Since it's an investment and not a personal residence lenders will require you to put some more skin in the game and that's why you're seeing the bigger down payments.

Besides,there is cost of money ( specifically hard money ) and you will have skin in the game no matter. 

A: If you need to borrow the down payment and the seller carries back the balance, you have no skin in the game.

They have more skin in the game then you do.

Ever read "Acres of Diamonds"Then you may want to look at how you can Finance your Deals, even w/OPM you need some skin in the game.

As an investor you want as little skin in the game on deals if you are looking to grow rapidly.

It doesn't sound like you have any "skin" in the game.  

So far hard money lenders still seem to require 20% down for skin in the game.

Here are my options as I see them: BRRRing SFR sounds great, but it will take a significant amount of time to build up enough cash flow to replace my current income.Flipping average priced ($200-250k ARV) homes sounds like the best way to achieve my current income, but will not contribute to overall wealth.Mid-sized apartment complexes sounds like an interesting route to achieve both income and wealth, but it requires a significant chunk of my own (skin in the game) capital - leaving me with little capital to pursue options #1 or #2 on the side.

Throw some skin in the game and pull the trigger.