@Sam Rust Congratulations on achieving this milestone.

Make sure you get the draw checks made out to you and disburse them to the contractor only when they meet their milestones.

I understand, the basics anyway, of how hard money loans work, but I am wondering if I could get some help on how to structure a deal.I have been working as a realtor for the past year, after being laid off for over a year prior, so my cash reserves are limited, however, I have a strong credit score, and have about $20,000.00 in credit card availability.What I would like to do is structure a deal that would cover my acquisition costs, and then have milestone draws to pay for the repairs after they are done, which would pay off my credit cards to free up reserves for the next milestone draw.Acquisition Cost, including Closing Costs would be around $30,000.00, and I anticipate the repairs will run about $40,000.00.  

The builder will want draws at certain milestones (poured slab, framing completion, mechanical/electrical rough-in, etc.) 

I would set some goals and a timeline so you can pace yourself and have milestones to accomplish.

You are in the right Real Estate Group.First, make a plan along with goals and milestones.

Develop a project schedule, set milestones, and regularly monitor progress.

A long-term project with incremental milestones for sure. 

In addition to all the standard loan requirements, this loan will require that you have a lot of experience doing projects like this and funds will be released only when you reach specific milestones. 

Where you will make a certain percent payment at a building milestone, not usually a specific date in time.You can attempt to negotiate the percentage of the deposit to meet your comfort level though it sound in this case that is going towards the first portion of work, so not at all out of the norm.