anyone with that kind of money would probably not work with a first time investor on a deal this big. you would have to fork over at least half the downpayment to show you have skin in the game. how much cash can you contribute right now?

Doubt you've got skin in the game in LA or Calif. 

I do NOT recommend long distance Unless you find an exceptional partner/manager/someone with integrity or who has skin in the game.

I would absolutely love to speak to any locals (Baltimore to Richmond) who have more skin in the game than myself. 

San Diego is expensive with the average sold price for houses around $400k and from looking at some hard money lender websites  some of them have mentioned that they want to see that I have "skin-in-the-game" and have a down payment requirement.

WEll when you live in one of the most desirable places in the world with incredible weather and job opps of the high paying type.. that's what happens  :)  no matter what the price lenders in this environment will want whats called skin in the game , the days of 100% loans based on ARV are long gone.. ( unless your a very established repeat client  Like my guys I do this routinely for my clients but they have been with me more than a decade and in many cases we are well over 200 transactions together)So starting out as you are ... a HML will want at least in all the deals in the SF BA I have been presented with ,, they want 20% and sometimes will want you to also fund the rehab out of pocket.So take a 1 mil purchase and 400k rehab  ( pretty common numbers) and an ARV of 2 million ( again pretty common numbers..

Possession prior to closing can be dangerous, really depends on who that buyer is, skin in the game, their ability to close, their motivation as well.

I would love to do a hard money loan, but all hard money lenders want you to have some skin in the game.

Our skin in the game will be the ownership of the building whose purchase price is $225k.

That's what people need - a sense of belongingness (via Maslow's hierarchy of needs).I would encourage you to 1) have thick skin 2) do easy things and build goodwill + momentum, and 3) use the DVP change formula at all time (check out: http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/2997/blog_posts/24776-how-using-the-dvp-change-formula-can-help )