Lots of options, more than one source to me is always appealing.  

I read about hard money and private lenders but don't know if I should seek their services or deal with another source.

Welcome Alan, I know you will find BP to be a great source of support and information.

Start there and then work outward to other Trustee's this will give you a jump on any investors just relying on the pay services as you will be getting the information from the source not through a aggregator of information.

I wait until rent is a month past due then I will go over there and try and figure out if they lost their source of income and if they have, I will ask them to move out.

In the chance that he decides to sell, I figured this thread might become a great source for information.That being said, I totally disagree with @Shawn Holsapple and his suggestion to lie to your tenants. 

Your profession should be the source of all the private money you will need.

Go to the source for the facts, either the state website itself or a reputable source, such as the state association of realtors. 

@Adam Lawrie I have what you're looking for, I'm not the source so I'm not going to sell anything to you.  

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