I like Lance Edward's (apartment guru from Houston) distinction between entrepreneurs and investors.  

No snow removal, thank 'insert deity here'.Great tip on the distinction of landlord tenant for larger units.

There is also the distinction between passive custodians such as listed on the nuwireinvestor page referenced and advisory firms that implement and support plans offering checkbook control.I strongly applaud your desire to have the IRA piece figured out before pursuing opportunities, as that is critical to your investing success as well as IRS compliance.Check out a handful of companies, both on the passive custodian and checkbook control side of the equation.  

Any properties that you want to put under the loan has to be put into a separate/distinct entity that you only put these properties under.

In the discussion that ensued he laid out property condition spectrum with three distinct points of reference: Fully Performing; Value Add and Rehibilitation Condition.  

The key distinction is the bank, since it makes it's own guidelines can waiver from those with more autonomy.  

It is a fine distinction, but it depends on the type of closing you have.Final Word of Advice...No matter what, keep in mind that your Broker is the one who has to ultimately keep the lights on.. pay the Errors and Omissions Insurance, the staff, the Internet,  and other things to keep a brokerage open and functional. 

But hard money lenders, particularly those that lend on real property such as real estate, are distinctly different from pay day lenders.

They're a lot more common for larger dealsFun fact: some lenders with nice terms require a distinct LLC be formed for the project

I distinctly remember there were things they did with the hot water heaters, and they were advocating replacing the rubber hoses on appliances that use water (such as dishwasher, washing machine, etc) with some kind of metal hoses that are virtually indestructible.There was a goldmine of information about good preventative maintenance steps for rental houses...