Why not just invest for lower risk/reward at the start?

This could have been achieved with creative finance: but not with a conventional loan and more than likely not without a partner.Recommend these secured credit cards:-Citi-Discover (offers rewards)-Capital OneUse automatic payments on the full balance and only utilize 30 percent of your card limit; 10 percent is optimal.

I've already done that in the way I want to.I've done 6 mortgages in 3 months time this year (3 purchases, 3 refinances).That being said every investor is different.We all have different goals, different financial states, different abilities/limitations.Also, we have different risk tolerances given the current market.Although I'm certainly a believer that you can find deals at any time, any where but each investor has to make a decision on risk/reward and how much time you want to commit to getting a good deal and sometimes depends on what location you live and always depends on what kind of investor you are. http://usat.ly/2dQ30ya "Could auto loans mean a repeat of 2008 crisis?"   

Little bit of work I end up doing is a lot more rewarding.  

Too much risk and not enough reward for the sponsor.

Regarding your question I believe that there are two types of "skin in the game":1) Cash in the deal which ranges from 5 - 20% of the needed equity 2) Signing on as a guarantor on the debtBoth are important, most of the time there is 70% debt and 30% of equity on any specific dealFrom a passive investors standpoint its ideal for the sponsor to be on both ends but its not uncommon for a sponsor to be on neither or one or the other - it simply depends on the specific project and the risk and reward that the project delivers.

I agree it's not a get-rich-quick game, but it is very rewarding monetarily and intrinsically.

Instead, someone else is profiting from those deals.If you’re like me, you put an incredible amount of work and research into finding good properties... you owe it to yourself to complete the process and and reap the rewards!

The house was already on the margin and would have been a tough sell from a reward vs. time invested, but the added list and regulatory attention we felt was just going to add lots of costs to the project....In your case, it sounds like this is more related to the flood plain than anything else.At least here in Des Moines the city ends up taking control of much of the flood plain land simply because of these kinds of issues.. 

It is a calculated risk for them and you need to make sure the rewards outweigh the risks.Bring your financials, financials of the property, comps on the property, your multiple exit strategies.