Looking to establish relation with Private money lenders

[Amit G.]

Starting out and looking to establish a long relationship with Private money lenders local to my area.  I don't have any concrete leads yet but as they say there is no harm being proactive :).  Generally, what all are you specifically looking for when lending your money?

[Andrew Postell]

@Amit G. so I want to separate that Hard Money lending is different than Private Lending. The basic concepts of private lending aren't any different than a normal loan but private lending is like a loan coming from a family member or friend. So the terms could be anywhere, anything, all over the map, interest rate, no interest rate, no payment, and everything in between. I would focus on understanding the basic concepts of lending - you offer collateral for a loan, what a normal downpayment needed is, the going rate for a conventional loan/HML/portfolio on an investment property, etc. That way, if a private individual offers you an 8% Adjustable rate loan with 5% down, is that a fair deal? I would suggest to find out the other normal terms so that you measure if a private loan is fair. That's the direction I would suggest.