Hard Money Lenders | Before or After?

[Christopher Raiz]

So when you're deciding on a house and are about to make an offer, when going through hard money lenders can you get money beforehand like a pre-approval or do you have to have a deal ready? The reason I'm asking is that most hard money lenders will take a couple of days up to a couple of weeks in order to approve your request. So I'm wondering if there is a way to get pre-approved through hard money lenders before you actually find a deal or do you have to have a deal to show them and then wait to get approved by them to actually make an offer. Alternatively, can you make an offer while waiting to get approved? Also, does anybody have any recommendations for hardy money lenders for beginners? I was looking at DoHardMoney. Thanks