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.

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?

Pittsburgh is where we are going to settle down and we plan to then expand throughout Appalachian states.We have property management experience and personal funds to put skin in the game.

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. 

@Chris Seveney, I’ve seen the same: anything below 1.0 rarely gets over the finish line unless there’s serious skin in the game or a story that makes the lender comfortable.