If you are a newbie, a private lender like myself wants to see some "skin in the game," even if it's your grandma's money or a partner's money.

@Chris Randall You said it all, "Gimmick" In marketing language, a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries.

I guess it all depends on your threshold for pain - if you could really talk to this guy and work things out , then it may be salvagable    - perhaps he just got though dealing with some major life issues and took it out on you - just remember - this guy is living in your property and you have to keep dealing with him on a regular basis - the property management industry can be better defined as a "people management" industry - so it may be good to learn how to deal with these type of situations so that you can get a thick skin  - personally , having dealt with problem tenants and with ideal tenants - I would choose the temporary loss of replacing a bad tenant with a good one any day of the week, cause there is really no way to quantify the piece of mind that comes with having and excellent tenant vs the anxiety of dealing with someone unstable

They need to have skin in the game.

As a new investor / aspiring developer learning the ropes during this excellent time to be buying RE, I can tell you for certain it is FAR cheaper to re-skin a quality property than it is to build it.

I prefer to get slightly more expensive properties that have tenants who have enough skin in the game that I can manage from across the country.

My family would like to move to a nicer area, and thought that using the house hack of buying a multi-unit property to live in one unit and rent the other would be a great way to get some skin in the game.  

Do this a couple times, and you'll have the money needed to put some skin in the game for hard money or private money.

..You will make mistakes but don't quit. you need tough skin and PERSEVERANCE in this business...

Exactly right @Wade Sikkink, @Troy Feldman any investor who is smart with money ain't gonna trust a guy with no skin in the deal!