HML or my own cash on first flip deal

[Khizar Hanif]

Hey guys, 

I am looking to do my first flip here very soon. I have come across some deals lately with decent numbers in great locations but where I am struggling is deciding whether to use hard money or my own cash. Obviously, a HML will cut tremendously into my profit potential. Assuming ARV and repair estimates are accurate, with high interest (13.99%) and 4 points, net profits don't look enticing with a calculation of a 6 month hold. If the property takes longer than 6 months to sell, I basically lose all profit potential since ill be paying extra interest. I am not considering any areas that have comps with a high number of days on market but I have to expect the worst.

The biggest advantage I see with hard money is that I can eventually do multiple deals at once. So, I am thinking it would be smart to use hard money later in the game as I gain some experience and confidence to where I could do multiple deals simultaneously (with obviously less profit potential on each deal) but not have to tie up cash. 

For my first deal, I am leaning more toward the cash option which would yield me almost 3x as much profit as opposed to using a HML, assuming the numbers are accurate. Is this a good idea? Am I being too greedy and thinking about profits too much as opposed to getting my first flip experience?

The way I see it is that this first deal will be the only flip I focus on, so I'm not concerned about cash reserves. Once it is sold and I see that I can excel in this business, I would use hard money or private money to do more deals and hopefully, more than one at a time. 

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.