I'm only comfortable placing loans after I've run a borrower through my own due diligence and only when they have significant skin-in-the-game.  

Michael,i appreciate the response thank you.just to be clear, I have thick skin, been doing large scale construction for 23 years and transactions totalling in excess of $200mm but it just caught me by surprise in one of the forums when someone had asked about a investment property str and it was a vague question and got a "holier than thou" response and when they responded back they essentially reduced the person to a you tube investor lol.

I am familiar with the "rudeness" but that unfortunately is not so uncommon when dealing with government employees who have to deal with the public on a daily basis and is something you just have to have thick skin for.

Fortunately I was able to find skilled and trustworthy contractors, and share equity stake with them to give them skin in the game and ambition to be successful.To get the seller to closing, I built a short but meaningful relationship with the seller.

Those 40% owners might not have enough skin in the game to make a deal work but on the other hand they are maybe stuck with a HELOC or other second mortgage that they want to get out of.

The moment anyone even mentions "house" I pop up with my leopard skin towel around my butt swinging from tree to tree, in their heads !

Thicken up your skin, take them off the list and say: "NEXT!!"

If you're going to be in RE, you need thick skin anyway, better to grow it here than with someone on some deal. :)

To me it feels more like a game of chess, to my wife it was a lot more emotional, we had a couple tenants that really got under her skin, at least in the beginning.

is the lend ONLY 75% of the purchase price (so that you have have to gave 25% skin in the game?)