Relationship with hard money lender first or find a deal first?

[Gaege Root]

New to navigating the world of flipping and I'm in an extremely hot buyer's market. On the retail side of things, everything is overpriced and still disappearing like ice in a desert (fitting, since I'm in Tucson).

However, I still believe there are deals out there for a first time flipper like me that's willing to take a relatively small profit on a flip project for the sake of better understanding the process.

What I'm struggling with is knowing what pieces of the puzzle need to be in place before which. Say I am able to identify a potential deal (drive by or craigslist ad, etc).

Do I run the best analysis I can on it and quickly shop local hard money lenders (I've got no private money connections or existing equity to work with)?

Or do I establish some relationships with hard money lenders first?

My worry is that if I don't have the proper pieces in place I will miss the small windows of opportunity that do present themselves.