The PM often charges the Title Company for this service that passes the charges onto the buyer/seller (labeled a Document Processing Fee on Closing documents: average $175).

Building my network of real estate attorney's, buyers, co wholesalers, and private lenders.

I'd tie it up under contract immediately, and do some proactive due diligence on it.The biggest "hidden" cost in most deals is the ramification of private water and sewer, which this deal does not suffer from.

@Zana Blue,Well, I'll take a more humane position: instead of focusing on win-lose, try to find a way to make it a win-win.For example, if you're in a position to do so, offer to be a private lender on his deal, or see if you can partner up with him some other way.The path to success should not be a competition, it should be a journey on which we take others with us.

The term real estate investing is often misused as a label for real estate business activities, such a brokering, wholesaling, finding, leasing, managing, etc.

Is there a good way to verify a Private Lender?

I will send a private message.

Does anyone know or have a connection with a hard money lender or a private investor that will loan to someone with little experience with not much money down.

For me, when I got started it was a) access to cheap private capital (family & friends), b) a willingness to house hack and live with roommates, c) location in a city with a cheap real estate inventory, and d) a friend who was also investing and could help me with some contractor contacts.Yours will be different, for example maybe you know a certain area of the city very well and can recognize underpriced MLS properties, or you have the time to send out direct mail and take phone calls, or you have the temperament to knock on doors of potential sellers, or you are very handy and can save money on the rehab, or you have a very long-term investment horizon so you can buy in marginal areas, or you love networking and can convince someone to JV a deal... you get the idea.  

Private lenders through mortgage brokers or directly?