Hard Money Lending

[Christopher Martin]

I have a close friend who is a contractor and flips houses.  He has worked with other hard money lenders in the past.  I have been wanting to invest in real estate and he suggested that I become a hard money lender.  I would start small and just do 1-3 deals with him to learn the business.  If it went well I would consider working with other clients in the future, but would just start with him since I know and trust him very well.  I have substantial capital in the public equities markets and would like to diversify my investments, so that is the reason for wanting to do this.  Also, I have some time to invest, and I am hoping that by investing my time I would get a higher return than what is available if I just passively sign up for one of the crowd funding sites that do real estate loans.  

I have researched it, and it seems that you need a mortgage originator license from the state, and to be registered with NMLS to offer these types of loans.  Is there anyone who has formed a similar company that could help me learn more about the steps to getting started?  I would appreciate any feedback.