Welcome to DFW REI Club!
For short-term rehabs, there's nothing wrong with hard money; especially if you would lose a deal if you don't have a better funding alternative. BTW, our hard money lender is excellent! His name is Terry Weakley and can be reached at 817-925-8473.
My brief advice on private money is that you need to build relationships with people you think might have money they'd like to invest. I've done this through simply sharing with friends, family, and any one else who gets within 3 feet of me how awesome and profitable Real Estate Investing is. That's easy, because it's so true. Once people have known you for a while and have heard several of your Real Estate Investing success stories, they'll probably ask you if you'll let them loan you money. If they don't, you can certainly say to them "if you know any one who'd like to make a MUCH higher rate of return on their money in Real Estate than they're making at their bank, please let me know." If they're interested themselves, they'll say so. If not, the indirectness of your request doesn't put them on the spot or make them feel uncomfortable.
In some cases, relationships may take a little time to develop, so be patient. But, there's plenty of money in the world, so, if you do this right, you'll find it. I've got more private money than I can spend at this point, and, since I want to convert those funds into Real Estate Investments, it's beginning to frustrate me. I suppose that's a good problem to have though.
There's a LOT more to be said on this topic. We dubbed 2012 as "The Year of Private Money" at DFW REI Club, so it's fresh on not only my mind but others' minds as well. I hope this helps, but, if not, fine tune your question(s) a little, you'll likely get more specific answers.
Thanks,
Robin
