So you need to remember that there are about 4- 6 big box lenders that fund most of the Hard Money loans and then you have thousands of brokers selling their products and lots of times someone thinks they are dealing with a lender but they are not, they are dealing with a broker who has a lending sounding name and this broker is set up with an account at a few different lenders. 

Five Unique Ways I’ve Seen People Make Money In Real Estate1.

I would be putting 20-25% down and use a loan to get more for my money. 

Or rent out, refinance , and recoup money else where knowing what I know now .

What @JDmartin said.......You'll lose money unless you hire a good GC.

I had to use one in NYC when on vacation there one time and they charged 350.00 bucks and I was outraged,, but for me that does 4 to 10 closings a month as a seller it adds up to real money :)Not sure what the on line one charges because same thing this was with chicago title and I did not pay for it since we do a ton of closings with them they accomodate my stingy streak :)

The difference between the two is $4,300 (15%) or $4,000 (20%) but the rent in the area is still around $3,500-$3,700 (so you'll still lose money), but hoping that when interest rates go down and appreciation goes up, you can make money then.

We currently have some money that we could use for renovations, but we don't know if we should use the equity for that instead or use it to put it on a different property.

I was intrigued by the fact that you don't need a lot of money upfront to get in.

I am also aware of doing a 1031 at some point.My biggest question is taxes if I were to sell.