The best thing to do when you are starting out is to pair up with a mentor to help you get some skin in the game.

If put 10% skin in the game and give them an interest rate that will match their current passive rental income, with the agreement that I can refi in 1 year do you think anyone would be interested in this arrangement?

However, for an equity participation into the deal, especially one of a 50/50 split, there is no substitute for "skin in the game."

I'm teaching now, but I'm not a guru, but an educational site, no fluff, no puffing, and it's more of a break even than trying to skin any investor.

So if I wanted to try and skin coat it myself with just the mud,  would I have to apply anything to the walls that haven't been painted to help it stick?  

The fear of the unknown by the "guest" is what prevents 100% occupancy.My feeling about Portland, and other communities having difficulty embracing the sharing economy, like my HOA, has to do with the horror stories that @ Marcia Maynard mentions.

Do any of you guys have suggestions for how I can get some skin in the game?

If you're having that much difficulty then it sounds like you are living beyond your means, or you have so many kids you should force them to do driveway shoveling to fund your business :)I agree that you should be making steps in what you want to do, but you need to make sure that you understand where you are (and why) before you start spending money, particularly when it sounds like you might not be able to sustain because you don't have enough time to answer the phone if it rings.

Make sure the buyer has a lender that has done HUD homes as the difficulty and cost can be high to get the utilizing for the appraiser and such

I am having difficulty finding comps on other 3 families in the area.