I'm eager to learn from your experiences and gain insights into how to get started, pitfalls to avoid, and strategies for success.Specifically, I'm interested in hearing about:Getting Started: What steps did you take when starting out as a private lender?

House hacking is one of the most popular strategies you can take and it can be a great way to build wealth and generate passive income, but it's important to have a long-term plan in place.

It's not Passive, you have to act as the Banker.  

It’s not like buying a cell tower lease that just throws off cash passively.

I wanted to share some insights I’ve gained while working with new construction duplexes in Indianapolis.

If you want to brush up on PML, I suggest you check out my book Lend to Live: Earn Hassle-free, Passive Income in Real Estate with Private Money Lending available on the BiggerPockets book store.

Generally, you want to keep passive and non-passive separate.

There was an influx of investors over the past few years who have come and gone because they couldn’t compete with fix and flips and thought notes was a passive way to earn huge profits.

Buy the rock solid rental and get your appreciation, cash flow, depreciation, principal pay down, equity capture on a discounted by and forced appreciation gain for a well targeted rehab.  

An Architect can look out for your best interest in the project plus can bring all the Engineers necessary for the build (Civil, Structural, MEP, Sprinkler/Fire suppression, etc.)As far as the build itself, if it's in an established city or town on a tax lot, then you'll need to go through the design and permitting process, gain zoning approval if necessary, and then build up from there.