How hard it is to get a hard money loan for your first flip?

[Alex Prescott]

Hi all.  I am a newbie investor with a full time job and have about 20K saved up.  I have been looking at getting into RE investing for some time now.   I have spent the better part of a year learning as much as I can and feel like it's time to take some action.  I want to start with a flip.  My question is how hard is it for a newbie with no history to get a hard money loan?  I've read they mostly like to work with experienced investors who have completed at least a few flips.  Let's say I find a deal and I've ran the numbers and I'm confident that it meets the 70% rule.  How hard would it be to find a hard money lender to fund the purchase price AND rehab?  Are they only going to fund the purchase price for my first deal?  Bearing in mind that I only have about 20K to work with I'm not sure what kind of deal I can go after until I understand what I can get.  Should I just start reaching out to hard money lenders and ask theses questions directly to them.  I don't have a deal yet so that doesn't sound like the right path.  But I feel like I can't look for a deal until I know my price range.  Any help would be appreciated.