He has no skin in the game. 

I don't agree with not having skin in the game.You are borrowing other people's money to get involved in real estate or oil and gas.If you don't pay the note, they will take the property / investment away.

So I require skin in the game (average is 5% to 15%) to offset this.

For the down payment, most hard money or private lenders will want you to have some skin in the game — usually around 10 to 20 percent of the purchase price, depending on your experience and deal strength.Always budget extra for closing costs too.

It's best to start with long term rentals so you can get some skin in the game.

Many first time homebuyers struggle to have any skin in the game in the first place.

Having skin in the game is better than having no skin in the game.

But my favorite sponsors aren't from here.I'm a conservative investor, so when I invest in multi-family I prefer sponsors that have at least one full real-estate cycle of experience, little to no money lost, low leverage, and high skin in the game.And there is a multi-family operator that has multiple real estate cycles of experience (decades) and it's track record claims no money lost in that time.

But it’s a reminder that “buying at the top” with minimal skin in the game can hurt when the market shifts, even slightly.Early signs of trouble or short-term noise in specific metros?

I want to get skin in the game and have feelings of FOMO waiting, but at the same time it feels like I could be rushing into a headache all at once.