Often their security deposit comes from government assistance, so they have no "skin in the game", and no vested interest in taking care of your property. 

That means buying distressed with skin in the game (down payment, rehab funds, network of solid contractors, partnership split, etc.), adding value, and building a track record.

Having someone who is local with skin in the game should increase your odds of success.

Sure the double deposit helps the landlord a little bit but it still doesn't really mean the tenant has any skin in the game.

Again, other might feel differently here.b) Skin in the game: as a conservative investor, I understand that the dirty secret of industries that the waterfall compensation is in the line with me and incentivizes sponsors to take more risk.

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

They want you to have some skin in the game.

If they don’t have any skin in the game and in fact they make more money keeping late fees and making another lease-up fee plus whatever they make processing the eviction that’s what they’ll keep doing and that’s not going to end well for you.

As a conservative investor, I am personally not comfortable in investing in any of those platforms as I prefer sponsors with a lot more experience, a lot more skin in the game, better fees, a model that can be recession stress tested, etc..

We're getting some great returns in Seattle - a lot of the folks complaining about the Seattle area not cash-flowing are back-seat critics without any skin in the game.