Understanding Hard Money

[Robert Osorio]

Greetings,

I am new to real estate investing (fix and flip) and not 100 percent sure I'm going to actually jump in because of funding. However, I need to make a change in careers and real estate seems to be the way to go.

My situation is, I have no real money of my own (I have access to 8k in liquid funds), not even an IRA I can borrow from. So, if I find a property, I will need to find a lender to fund the re-hab. I have a few questions. Any advice is appreciated.

1. How does one rate, or judge a hard money lender? I want to know that I am working with good people.

2. How does a new investor approach a hard money lender, to "pre-secure" funding in order to legitimately begin deal hunting?

3. I am confused about how they lend, is it a percentage of the actual sale price or the ARV price?

4. Are hard money lenders as "eager" to lend as I have been told by people trying to sell me expensive training?

I could ask twenty more questions, but perhaps someone here has written a solid post about this topic and maybe someone has a list of trusted and helpful hard money lenders.

Kind Regards and Thank you,

Robert