@Ray Hovorka and @Kaz Lawal There is a Starbucks inside of the Randall's shopping center on 290 and Barker Cypress. 

This is to be sure you actually will have the funds necessary to close, when you find something you want to buy.While hard money is similar, it can be a bit trickier to get a clear rate quote without the specific property already in mind (and ideally, under contract).To keep things simple: I'd recommend still talking to your potential lender(s) BEFORE you spend too much effort shopping around.

I would advise you to shop around for other lenders.

However, shop around as each lender can be different.A lot of times it wasn't always a lot of cash out of pocket however.  

@David Krulac - Nice post - as I mentioned above  - the 1% brokerage shops never survive here because the process is incredibly time consuming and complicated.  

A few of my friends ended up there for the long haul, and I make a trip there every once in a while when I'm in the mood to do some shopping at IKEA :).

I can find reliable subs for just about everything else (And the more reliable, the more expensive)... but finding good and reliable carpenters is like walking into a butcher shop and asking for Unicorn steaks. 

.• location - I'm a believer that if you want quality tenants, location should be priority I.e (good school districts, low crime, middle to high income families, access to shopping centers and freeways, etc..)• Quality - To start off make sure to buy a property that is not going to require major repairs.

We don't know what market we want to shop in right now- San Francisco is absurd.

Brokers (not agents) can shop around to find you the best deal to meet your needs, however not all brokers are the same... hence the reason I suggest speaking to 2-3.