Private/Hard Money Lending - Asking for advice as a lender

[Valerie Watson]

Good evening BP family.  I am in a position to potentially become a hard money/private lender and am looking for a company with whom to join and utilize their services as a lender ~ not a loan recipient.  I realize there are an unlimited number of companies out there who provide this service as I can find them by the dozens.  In helping me find a quality, reputable company, I am wondering if any of you have experience in that arena and can provide some advice on what to look for when choosing a hard money/private loan company.  Thank you in advance for your knowledgeable and helpful insight.

Valerie

[Valerie Watson]

Jeff, Thank you so much for the information.  You are exceptionally organized and provided a well thought out response.  I am actually just in the research stage and am looking for information about the different avenues of being a lender (several of which you listed above).  I'll definitely look into the AAPL association. I also appreciate the advice to visit with a lending attorney as well as to attend the upcoming conference.

As for the local groups, I'm pretty good at filtering the riff-raff.  I've actually visited four real estate investment groups in my area and have only been impressed by one (a BP member in Frisco who does a regular meetup). The other 3 have the feeling of bait/switch in trying to gather members and utilize/take their money to make themselves richer.

I'm learning, growing and am probably a bit overly cautious before taking an actual action.  Therefore, I will definitely be careful.

Thank you again for all the info.

Valerie