Money First or Money During?

[Kellie Ford]

Deciding to go with a hard money lender to help with a purchase. All the reading I've been doing, I'm still a bit confused... should I get approved first by the lender for the amount I want then hunt my deal OR have my deal then get approved for the loan? The latter seems anxious as someone else can grab the deal. Any advice on this would be awesome.

[Dale Degagne]

When it comes to hard money it likely has to do with the lender themselves and what they prefer.  

For me, I developed a relationship first with the lender and got some rough parameters of what they would be interested in backing. But I always make my deals conditional on financing.  I do find that my guy responds much faster when I have a firm deal for him.  Probably a time management thing on his part. I'm not the only Joe looking to borrow short term.