My partner and I are looking into purchasing a multifamily building (6 unit) in Hartford, CT and trying to come up with some creative ways to put the least amount out of pocket into this deal and still make it a win-win for the seller and us.One of the things we are exploring is having the seller finance the down payment (20-25%), but not sure how to go about it as I have been told that lenders would not allow the seller to put the down payment (a 20% mtg to the seller and 80% mtg to the lender... essentially us not putting any money or "skin in the game").

They have skin in the game, but are almost fully retired and don't want to deal with anything property management related.

Sure you have skin in the game with the collateral, but you have very little money in the deal.

This will allow you to save a chunk of money so you can then "have some skin in the game" when working with private or hard lenders.

And lets face it .. those deals are not just sitting on the branch's to be plucked.. in many markets deals are dog tough.In my mind EsPecially as a beginner first thing you need to do is get the discipline to save cash for equity and or put a group together so that you are bringing in true equity.if I borrow from a HML like lendinghome or Conventus  I need to put skin in the game..

It would still be risky if I need to cash in quickly to put skin on a deal within a short time frame.

Being generous you'll get $5K per year out of this property (that's assuming that your equity partner will split returns evenly with you even though you're a rookie with no skin in the game) and I wouldn't bank on that.  

Since you have skin in the game you should be able to find something.  

And finally, no doc & no money down lending by banks/brokers meant many had no skin in the new game.

You could wait until this appreciation occurs and then try to get the neighbors to clean up their act for a minute so you could sell it, but (even putting ethics aside here) a remotely intelligent buyer would be asking about the neighbors, past issues, etc, since there is a shared wall.If you really think the area is about to appreciate (and you have corroboration on that from outside parties with no skin in the game), could you work with the owner on his price (given the issues with bed bugs and maintenance), with the understanding that you'd basically be paying a premium to gain control over your prop value and own two props that are likely to appreciate?