Multi family loan questions

[Amanda Leppert]

I am looking into purchasing a multi-family property in St. Petersburg, FL. I am a new real estate agent and have been researching investment properties for the past 1 1/2 years so I am fairly confident in running the figures as far as having positive cash flow, but I still have a few questions regarding hard money loans. The property I am looking at needs work. I am going tomorrow to view the property to find out how much work it needs. If I take a hard money loan do I need a down payment for them also when refinancing the property would the bank then require a down payment? I am looking to hold onto the property and use it as a rental. Should I also try to get preapproved for a bank loan before the hard money loan to make sure that I will be able to refinance it for a lower interest rate. Is there a different type of loan that may be out there that would be better than a hard money loan? 

Thanks in advance