Amount needed to start lending

[Lisa Hines]

I am not a people person so being a landlord could be a means to acquire enough capital to get into lending. How much money does one approximately need to acquire to start lending? I assume hard money lending would be the best considering there are shorter time frames your money is occupied. 

[Ann Bellamy]

I don't think landlording is usually considered to be a quick way to amass capital to lend.  More like a get rich slow method.  

[Jeff Rabinowitz]

I don't think becoming a lender will solve your primary concern. All of my borrowers have been people. You need as much as the smallest loan you are willing to fund. The smallest loan I have made was $11k. The funds were out for 2 days.

[Charlie Fitzgerald]

I have to agree with both Jeff and Ann.  Being a lender requires lots of people interaction, sometimes good interaction, sometimes not.  Great lenders build relationships with their borrowers that are the foundation for success for both.  Raising capital to become a lender through rental property ownership is a years and years long process, and like lending, being a landlord is a huge people person undertaking.  I'd caution you to decide if this is an area yiu want to get into.  Although when done well, it can be a lot if fun and be profitable, it's not as easy as many people think and requires lots of attention to detail, accounting skills, knowledge of applicable rules and regulations, deal analysis, and at some point the ability to protect your money loaned when someone's dream all of a sudden becomes a nightmare for both parties.

[Lisa Hines]

I feel like there are some assumptions being made. I never mentioned anything about a time table that would indicate I assume a get rich quick time table. The shorter time frame comment was in reference to being able to loan my money out again after a number of months in hard money lending as opposed to years in private lending. That is assuming I am only able to make one or two loans at a time in the beginning. 

I understand that I have to interact with people but dealing with tenants is a bit different than dealing with individuals you have ongoing professional relationships with. There is a reason there is a whole section on the forum about dealing with tenants, is there not?