I have met some private investors that are interested in helping me with the funding of my flip, but I haven't found any properties yet.

However, there is no way to do so without risk.The Internal Revenue Services issues three (3) Private Letter Rulings (PLRs) that allowed the taxpayers to do just this.

What would be my best approach, I assume find a private lender and work out some deal with them.

@Wade Wisner -  Most of the notes that we purchase we keep in our portfolio and borrow against them with private capital.

I've personally utilized private notes on three transactions and participated in another handful of negotiations with sellers on behalf of buyers in the past five years. 

private money lender How did you add value to the deal?

Alternatively, a private or hard money loan could provide faster funding if traditional lending timelines don’t work, with the option to refinance once the build is complete.

Private money and personal funds.

I am starting to realize there has been a significant amount of consolidation in the space by private equity and other institutional investors. 3) From research it also seems like getting financing can be difficult without prior experience in the space.

I might have a private lender referral that does rural loans in Mid-MO if you're interested.