Financing & Deal Finding | Chicken and egg

[Collin Emerson Miller]

I am working on a flip right now using hard money and I am running into a catch 22/chicken and egg problem with finding financing and finding deals.  Here is what I mean:

I have been talking with real estate agents and they seem to have the sentiment that you should have financing lined up before you look for deals, but to apply for hard money you need to have a deal at the ready.  What gives?  What do you start with? Do you just find an agent that is willing to find deals without financing locked in?  Is there any way to find an in-between like you have a written letter from a lender that says "Given that there is an adequate deal, financing will strongly be considered?"

If anyone would like to hop on a call and talk about this I would love to connect.  I am looking for HMLs and deals in Virginia.