From a lender's perspective, you sound look like a very risky borrower.Hard Money is an short-term alternative to traditional bank loans and is more suited to rehabs and flips, but any lender is: 1) Going to underwrite the deal to make sure the numbers make sense, there is a clear upside, and plenty of wiggle room (and thus will expect you to come to them with a very clear picture of exactly what needs to be done, including a scope of work, detailed costs, and contingencies), and 2) Expect you to have skin in the game. 25% is pretty reasonable, actually.

The other is skin in hte game, if someone is putting 25% down payment, they will not want to walk away from that very easily and will fight harder to try and make payments.

I am doing my research on this market,  is anyone here familiar or have any skin in the game?

I have not reviewed BAM's fees but it's likely based on their representation of UNDER 10% "skin in the game" that most of their "investment" is taken from fees deducted from the money gamblers place with them and counted as equity in the deal; this is a common practice in the syndication industry. 

Not just the “core 4” but actual partners who are both boots on the ground and have skin in the game. 

What's your skin in the game?

Vet sponsors hard: track record across cycles, fee structure, downside scenarios, investor communications, skin in the game, and third-party references.Leveraging those gains into local rentals (especially mid-to-long-term) is a great next move and gives you more hands-on control.

This is a BIG issue when it comes to Realtors screening tenants as they have NO SKIN in the game, as after they get their commission they won't have to be accountable for tenant nonperformance issues!

Hard money works, but it’s pricey for new investors, so I led with credibility: a simple one‑page deal story, conservative numbers, my skin in the game, clear exit, and consistent updates.

The most immediate take-away from this site for me when I first started posting on here was needing to develop thicker skin.