The problem with refinancing an investment property banks Want you to have skin in the game if your not going to live there.

ice cream melts and concrete cracks. 

So I contacted several PM's and had three in mind, but one of them only will take the "cream of the crop" listings in the great zip codes.

No, and @Wayne Brooks is correct.If the lender is your Uncle Moneybags then he might allow you to have zero skin in the game, otherwise don't expect this not to be immediately obvious to any lender. 

This way you have skin in the deal.

You have to have thick skin in order to survive the emotional rollercoaster.

The lead investor has money in the deal too so they also have skin in the game.

As you negotiate price, you're stressing the money needed to make improvements and repairs, point out that you will have skin in the game, that you're not in business to lose money, that you don't work for nothing, simply to reinforce the unlikely event of default, that come heck or high water, they will get their money.

By the end of this period, I should have enough experience, credibility and 'skin in the game' to syndicate my first deal.

Fear, thin skin etc.