Especially since the color and pattern of granite is a very personal style choice.Are there any other countertops you're seeing used in rehabs that are more style neutral (white/wood), appealing and affordable?

Brock, There are "many ways to skin a cat" and so there are many ways to do direct mail.

Better to lose what sounded like a fairly small deal in the scope of things and find out their true colors at a low cost, than to have wasted any time building a relationship with someone who is not trustworthy.But definitely let your friend know so they stop recommending this person.

your own personal experience is important. if you don't have skin in the investment, you should at least have skin in the business.

Until you have a track record borrowing from HMLs you'll likely need to invest some some of your own money in the deal to have some skin in the game.

Some will insist you have some skin in the game for fear of you walking away from a deal gone bad.

Kitchen cabinets seems like they are in good condition, but flat, and currently stained that typical brown color.

There are a ton of hard money lenders in SoCal that may be willing to look at your deal and tell you if they would lend on it and under what terms ... most will want to see some skin in the game from you in terms of down payment and/or funding repair costs. 

Their view is you have no equity or skin in the game if the asset stops performing and you're more likely to walk away and hand them the keys. 

See #2What you are trying to do is basically avoiding any of your own skin in the game.