Even if I end up not owner occupying and just getting rental property, until I have some skin in the game, I'd like any of my future rentals to be local so I can manage them.  

But as with any negotiation you should find out what's most important to them ... is it the amount of "skin in the game" that you bring to the deal, the property itself, your experience, the turn-around time, etc etc?

Typically they want the buyer to have skin in the game for fix and flip deals.

Best decision I ever made was to get skin in the game.

When people do not have any skin in the game, they are usually abivalent to caring for someone else's asset (or honoring a written contract, for that matter). 

As a retired CPA, I have seen more than my share of bankrupted RE investors who were over leveraged with many properties.All the more reason to emphasize developing good due diligence practices, having some skin in the game and staying on top of legal requirements, maintenance, finance and tenant screening criteria.

I put $2000 down to have skin in the game.

They have more skin in the game then you do.Make sure you get clear title.

They'd have to prove that the reason you denied them was for a protected reason, and unless you have a history that can be proven of rejecting a certain type of applicant, or you blatantly told them you don't rent to "their kind" and they recorded it on their phone, it would be hard to prove.So, as long as the reason for denying them is never because they have a kid or too many kids or the color of their skin isn't like yours or they have a service dog or whatever, but the reason is because they didn't fill out their application completely or they were rude or smelled of cigarette smoke and you don't allow it, or they didn't show up on time or give you documents when they said they would - you're fine.

You are developing thick skin.2.