My goal is to do 2 flips in the next 12 months to create enough capital to put a downpayment on a duplex to house hack. I have no money to put into a deal. Recently, I went to a local real estate investing meeting and spoke with someone who is a hard money lender. Hearing about it opened my mind up to the possibility of obtaining a flip property using hard money as a means to purchase a home and some sort of gap funder to cover the closing costs and rehab costs. Is this a realistic way to get an eager person like myself to create capital or does this sound like a first timers recipe for disaster? I know hard money tends to be suggested to those more experienced, and I've heard that hard money lenders typically only like to lend to people with experience. Am I better of just being patient and saving money or should I stop being scared and start calling around to lenders and ask them what my options are?