Relationship with hard money lender first or find a deal first?
New to navigating the world of flipping and I'm in an extremely hot buyer's market. On the retail side of things, everything is overpriced and still disappearing like ice in a desert (fitting, since I'm in Tucson).
However, I still believe there are deals out there for a first time flipper like me that's willing to take a relatively small profit on a flip project for the sake of better understanding the process.
What I'm struggling with is knowing what pieces of the puzzle need to be in place before which. Say I am able to identify a potential deal (drive by or craigslist ad, etc).
Do I run the best analysis I can on it and quickly shop local hard money lenders (I've got no private money connections or existing equity to work with)?
Or do I establish some relationships with hard money lenders first?
My worry is that if I don't have the proper pieces in place I will miss the small windows of opportunity that do present themselves.