Should I lend money and buy rentals?

[Patrick Young]

I recently lent money as a private lender for the first time. My original focus was to acquire rentals. The process of getting to know the market and just finding a deal within my limited time led me to get in the game by lending. I have lent pretty much my entire allocated RE budget on this project. It's 110k 12% on a rehab with a local experienced flipper. I did it to look over his shoulder and make money. I really like the idea of lending and would love to do it more. If I had a million dollars that's all I would do. Frankly my 110k won't move the needle far enough. I would like to continue acquiring rental assets (have 2 now). I know people lend and buy properties all the time. These people probably have way more idle cash than me. How feasible or smart would it be to keep lending after this deal while buying rentals? I would have to borrow to buy, which is ironic. I guess it comes down to simple arbitrage in the end. Can I use my lender note as collateral to get a bank loan? I realize nobody really knows my specific financial situation so hard to give advice but has anyone else been in similar situation? Am I burning it too close? Do I need to focus more? I really want to pursue both but not sure if one should be mastered first.