Like @Brandon Turner says in his "The Book on Rental Property Investing" about Landlords who approach their business like a hobby or a side project, "When this Landlord goes bankrupt, and he most likely will, you and I will be there to get a great deal on his property, turn it around, and start managing it like a business."

My approach will be to be 50/50 partners.

Sometimes with real estate investing you have multiple approaches and its really just up to your intent/strategy and risk tolerance as to decide what to do next.You probably should find yourself a good lender that will work out these aspects for you, i.e. your financing/loan options. 

One I purchased a 57 unit in Mentor Ohio at $2,000,000 in Aug of 2019 and with cap rate compression, NOI improvement, recent sales, this thing is approaching 5.5 million valuation at the moment and we ONLY have about 35% of the units that are not renovated.  

Those migrating from expensive cities such as New York, San Francisco, Seattle, etc will still probably desire all the amenities of a major city and seek to relocate to a smaller city that still has major sports teams, great food culture, transit options etc. 

@Steve Vaughan I was in a zoom meeting with a BP member yesterday and I brought up the Lease to own question, you both agree on the seller financing approach and that's definitely the most logical.As for my IRA, it's a traditional IRA which I had for just over 5 years and considered pulling the money out and investing it into real estate for a larger return and to put "skin in the game" to jump start my business. 

So, I'd like any advice I can get about approaching a hard money lenders for financing.

Trying to be a landlord there without doing serious research is like going into the Olympics and learning the sport as you go.

Not saying not to do it but it’s walking a fine line.In several states including Maryland it’s considered predatory approaching borrowers who are in pre foreclosure / behind on payments and the fines are HUGE.I always go by the “how would this look on the front page of the New York Times” with business.

With the way you are approaching people, I might question doing business with you....