In addition the borrower must have unrestricted access without penalty to the accounts; and if the assets are in the form of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds, 70% of the value (remaining after any applicable costs for the subject transaction) must be used to determine the number of distributions remaining to account for the volatile nature of these assets

I'm conservative by nature and understand the statistics of having to sift through many homes, offers, and deals to the find the right one while sticking to my guns on my criteria.

Everyone feels better when the borrower has skin in the game.Here’s what I suggest.

@Lee Stephens make sure to account for the following expenses in your calculations:1) Mortgage2) Mortgage insurance (PMI or MIP) or FHA Risk base3) Property Taxes4) City Taxes5) HOA (Home Owner’s Association) Dues and Fees and Assessments6) Insurance  a) Property Hazard Insurance (0.3-0.45%)  b) Flood Insurance  c) Earthquake Insurance  d) Umbrella Insurance7) Vacancy Rate (usually 8% - the equivalent to one month a year, or 5-6% if multifamily and/or if experienced, if not use 8%)8) Utilities (you’ll have these if your tenant is not covering them and/or during vacancy)  a) Water § Sewer § Garbage  b) Electricity  c) Natural Gas  d) Propane9) General Maintenance (usually 5%)  a) Upkeep § Landscaping  b) Snow removal c) Repairs  d) New Appliances  e) Make ready10) Capital Expenditures (usually 5%, higher is the property is old and obsolete, less if fully rehabbed and all mechanicals and roof are new)11) Property Management (8%, even if you self manage, your time still has value and there might be a time when you'll want to be completely hands off or you'll not be able to do it, vacation, retirement, etc.), including...  

I'm almost certain a hard money lender is going to require you to have some skin in the game since there's not a whole lot of left over meat on the bones. :-)   Maybe a more senior investor could give you better advice but this is my observation.

I’m just wondering “how” I can skin this cat.

Due to the nature of my job (I move around a lot), I HAVE to invest out of state.  

Even Hard Money Lenders will usually want you to have some skin in the game.

. - Yes actually Hard money lenders will sometimes let you borrow more than 70% of purchase (plus 100% of rehab if any) depending on the deal but you will indeed normally have to have some skin in the game, at least 10%.- Yes Private Lenders are possible.- Dont listen to the first answer, ( @Fred Shatzoff ) some HMLs will allow a second position.

They typically don't look at your income or tax returns but will often vary what they can lend you depending on your experience flipping/rehabbing and your credit score.Many HMLs will have a minimum loan size, say $75K or $150K.HMLs will also usually still require you to have skin in the game, funding perhaps 90% of purchase or 75% of As-Is value whichever is less, plus 100% of rehab in arrears draws.Besides the down-payments you you also need capital for closing costs, Appraisal, rehab (if any) till the first draw milestone and of course for servicing the loan at least until you have flipped or stabilized.