The lender will indeed want to make sure that YOU have skin in the game, and bear in mind if you put less than 20% down there is likely to be required mortgage insurance on the loan which is an additional payment on top of your principal and interest.Having said all that, you DO have options for buying that duplex, especially if have people like your mom who willing to lend you that money for the deal, but I highly recommend talking with a seasoned mortgage professional here on BP to get the specifics and someone who will shoot you straight about it.Lots of people get started investing partnering with parents.

____________________________________OPTION 2Some of my other brokers in Georgia who specialize in high end properties for over 20 years do it this way.They have a typical marketing package built into their business.If the seller demands anything above that which they usually do then the broker does this.Tell the seller that they can pay for the advertising and keep the proof of receipt and payment and at closing the broker will give a credit off of their commission at closing.This makes the seller put skin in the game.If they truly believe in their price to put money on the line they will do it.

We closed by the skin of our teeth.

. - Some Capital: My current W-2 thankfully allows me to save at the rate of $2300/month, so depending on the deal, I may be able to contribute some from that standpoint to have skin in the game.

The primary reason for this is to make sure you are putting skin the game.There are programs out there that can drastically reduce your down payment (FHA and USDA are two that come to mind), but I have no idea if you can use them for what you are looking to do.Hopefully, someone else will post who can give more insight into those programs.Best of luck though!

If I could go back to considering my first, I'd say if you have friends/family that have enough $ and you are confident in your ability to BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) then you do not need to worry about fronting the cash yourself (except maybe a portion to show you have skin in the game).  

Hunter, you need your own skin in the game for any lenders to be interested in parting with their money to help you achieve your real estate goals.  

There's a million ways to skin the RE cat (so to speak). 

However, what sets off alarm bells is that, no only does the syndicator have very little skin in the game, he is paid first.  

This is where thick skin (which I had to learn over the 8 months) and hold money even through the begging and the story telling.