Local meetups/REIA events where you can get investor referrals, meet with local HML reps, or individual private lendersTo address the second part of your question...Essentially all short-term "bridge" loans are structured as I/O or 'interest-only' and require a balloon payment at the end of the term, because you aren't paying down the principal during the course of the loan.In other words, most all short-term hard money loans you'll be looking at will require monthly interest payments and a balloon payment at the end of the term.

All the experience in the world won't benefit you if you're wanting to develop a strategy, or have a curve ball come at you during the exchange and you can't talk to your QI (an actual senior QI and not a marketing rep for a larger company). 

I have a rep to maintain.

If I were in your shoes I would focus on the complete picture first.

They prospect folks in my profession pretty hard for our brokered business, one of their reps was in our office a few weeks ago.

Thanks Wayne Brooks , Rob Witt and Scott Royer I am going to talk to the bank rep who does the sheriff sales next week to see if he can point me in the direction of the broker.

Giant shoe box of receipts, I did see an app for i phone that scans and converts to pdf file.

While you write your mother is the Personal Rep of the estate, more importantly who is the minors guardians? 

Put yourself in their shoes and think about what they would want to hear, and you are doing that.

All you need to do is research/network your way to who the hedge funds are in your area, and get a phone call or meeting with whoever their rep is.