Money lenders come in a variety of shapes and capacities & sizes. To comprehend “what is a hard money lender,” you must first understand the question “what is hard money lending.” It’s nothing more than a short-term asset-based loan backed by property as collateral, funded by alternative sources to more conventional financing. Hard money lending is essentially a non-traditional loan secured by real property. It seems to be asset-based financing in which the borrower obtains the funds that are secured by real property. They have been considered the loans of “last resort” but these days they have many uses, with one being short-term bridge loans primarily used in real estate transactions.