Investing in a Hard Money Lender

[Aleks Gifford]

So I am in Indiana and have several grand moving to a custodial self directed roth ira in a few weeks. Excepting for tax sales not much you can do with that. I thought why not invest it in a hard money lender and make a return until it grows to a useable amount. I want to stay local.

Thoughts?

Legalities?

How do you vet a hard money lender?

What ROI should I expect?

Better alternatives?