A hard money loan is designed to be paid off in the first 6-12 months.

What's the best way to connect with buyers in there, make a post or steal the emails off peoples sale posts?

How badly did I get ripped off?

I would, personally, let him exhaust all his funds on the purchase and then you come up with a loan that finishes off the acquisition financing and then holds the rehab funds in escrow in an account you and your brother sign off on for withdraws.I do not think I'd put a lean on the property. 

If they were bringing you cash but on the way to drop it off they got robbed, would there be any question if they still owe rent? 

Seems unlikely to me but you are most likely better off investing your $60k into other markets if you can't house hack.

Also, why should the borrowers pay off the loan at all if it won’t affect thier credit?

I love helping people and truly do enjoy my job, but I am already at a young age topped out for compensation and in this field with insurance reimbursement structure the way it is, I am likely to not move up much at all in the future unfortunately.I have always loved personal finance and after accruing ungodly amounts of student loans and navigating paying them off all while efficiently investing in the stock market as well as now real estate I have not only realized how strong my interests are in this area but also my personal skills align in financial planning and personal finance.

You can be WAY OFF with older liens … think neg am and some lienholders are just bad at protecting their interests. 

And if you find something that does, there are likely trade-offs.