He paid this month's rent so he currently doesn't owe me anything. 

If you have a good w2 job and credit you can get a personal loan from SoFi or a bank like that.

I got started by doing just the same, and it landed me my first job in real estate.

Some lines of work are seasonal by nature - like snow removal jobs, entertainment industry, etc 

My long term goal is to be able to make Real Estate Investing my full time job, but I know there are steps along the way.I currently own my primary residence in the Suburbs of Austin, and I am looking to figure out my best path forward.

So, if you are wanting a hard money loan on a new property you are purchasing...then no HML would require a separate HELOC to be paid off. 

Both of us have corporate jobs with decent salaries, so we are saving about half of our income every month after all fixed and variable expenses and we have no plans to move in the foreseeable future.

This is how most hard money works now Rates: 9% to 13% (Most Deals are 11-12%)Terms: up to 36 Months (Most Deals are 6-12 months)Fees: 2-4 points(%) of loan amount paid at closing (Most Deals are 3 points(%))Minimum Loan Amount: $50,000 (For loans less than $250,000 $2,500 minimum fee)Max Loan: 65%-70% of After Repair Value(ARV) 100% Rehab Financing Available (Require 20% of purchase price down payment or cross-collateral)Closing Timeframe: 48 Hours - 3 Weeks (Most Deals are 2 Weeks)NO PRIMARY RESIDENCES, NON-OWNER OCCUPIED ONLY, BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL USE ONLY.

You can feel free to check out our website to get a sense of it all...Oakwood Lending (we do loans in NC--so things might be different in D.C.).Is it typical that private lenders do not allow the loan to be paid off early?   

I've seen professional property managers get stuck with a tenant that hasn't paid rent or allowed an inspection in three years.