Quote from @Michael Challenger: I have no qualms with hard money lending, but I need to learn more about the process and structure to these for typical deals so that I am more comfortable and in a position to reduce my personal risk and risk to investors as much as possible.

There’s no risk and all reward because if somebody can’t provide ID, they’re not going to be able to rent from me anyway.  

Investing in single-family residence fix-and-flip projects in New York involves purchasing distressed or undervalued single-family homes, renovating them, and selling them at a profit.

There's no one right answer for everyone since we all have different financial situations and risk tolerances.  

Plenty of people are happy they took those kinds of risks.

Better advice is know the risks, mitigate the risks the best you can. 

Normally “Developing” gets a higher returnthan Buy/Hold due to the Occupancy risk.

I avoid cash as it is a safety risk to have large amounts on hand.

That's the risk in gambling. 

Risk mitigation is crucial, and learning from past experiences is beneficial.