There's a million ways to skin the RE cat (so to speak). 

However, what sets off alarm bells is that, no only does the syndicator have very little skin in the game, he is paid first.  

This is where thick skin (which I had to learn over the 8 months) and hold money even through the begging and the story telling.

One way is to have the borrower bring some funds to the table so you have some skin in the game.

Lots of ways to skin the cat.

It'll force you to find better deals, because of the added cost, and it'll force you to have some level of added due diligence (professional appraisal / inspection) and they have skin in the game, so they're likely to sort of walk you through the process, if that makes any sense.

Obviously quite a bit more when you have your own skin in the game " LOL " !!

I would just say the biggest red flag here is "anything sounding too good to be true" - whether thats a hard money interest rate well below market, or 100% "no skin in the game" financing, etc. - those are the biggest red flags here IMO

As my Dad always said, 'There is no eating ice cream in hell- get outta there...

I'm looking to get some skin in the game.