New to investing but have done the research in my target market, I am a bit unclear on private investors and how to approach realestate agents to build a partnership with

[Patrick Holliday]

I am a new potential investor looking to go the route of private investors or hard money lenders. I have done the due diligence and researched everything from schools, job market, is it a solid first time homebuyers market and what percentage of the homes have sold in a specific area. All of this is well and good but now it is time to find the investor. Every thing that I have read leads me to believe that I need to find the money first and aquire the proof of funds letter before approaching the potential real estate agent I would like to team with to access the MLS database. The problem that I am running into is the hard money lenders that I am willing to approach are asking for very detailed information regarding properties, which I have not searched for yet. Should I approach the realestate agent with the hope that they will give me access to forclosures or do I find the funding first?