Are loans from Hard money lenders a good idea on first rental?

[Jose Gonzalez]

A house was just posted 3 minutes away from my primary home. It’s a great opportunity but I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger on buying my first rental property. I wanted to save more money for a bigger down payment and also get my credit score into the 700s which is currently 660.

The house is a foreclosure and the bank wants 130k but the zestimate is 365k. The median house value around me is 350. The house needs minimum rehab. It’s a great opportunity and I’m contemplating of reaching out to a hard money lender to jump on this opportunity. Any suggestions are welcomed on to what to do. Should I wait until I’m ready and feel comfortable with the down payment amount and credit score or try and get this opportunity???

[Ryan Murdock]

Hard money loans are great tools but the stakes are higher: expensive rates and short timelines. 

For an experienced investor this is simply worked into the cost of the deal. Since this is your first potential project you may want to partner with someone more experienced who can help guide you through it and avoid pitfalls that maybe you didn't even see coming. 

If the numbers are as good as you say they are there should be plenty of room for both of you to make money and you have the added bonus of walking away with a ton of new knowledge.