Private Lending Insights

[00:00:00] Rocky Butani: Welcome to Private Lending Insights. I'm your host, Rocky Butani. In this episode, I interviewed Jeff Tesh, CEO of RCN Capital. RCN is one of the largest private lending companies in the United States, primarily a wholesale lender working with brokers. I asked Jeff to share some insights on what he's seen in the first two quarters of 2026.

[00:00:22] We talked about capital markets, loan volume. We talked about the four states where they're doing the most volume at this time. We also talked about RCN's new division, Structured Finance Group, which focuses on large rental portfolios and multifamily loans. I hope you find this episode to be insightful.

[00:00:42] Here's my interview with Jeff Tesh All right, Jeff. Thanks for joining me for this episode of Private Lending Insights. How's everything at RCN?

[00:00:51] Jeff Tesch: Uh, good. Uh, Rocky, thanks for having me. As, uh, as always, uh, a pleasure to be on your podcast. Um, yeah, things are pretty good. You know, uh, we're midsummer now, so, you know, it's a little weird in the summertime.

[00:01:06] You lose some investors to vacations. The buying slows down a little bit during the Fourth of July, but it's usually a pretty short-lived, uh, exercise as, uh, people get back, right back at it after vacation.

[00:01:22] Rocky Butani: Sure. Well,

[00:01:22] let's talk about the first and second quarter of this year. How's, uh, private lending been for you and as far as loan volume and, and the growth of RCN?

[00:01:32] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, so it's interesting. So we had, uh, come off a very solid year last year, and this year we expected, uh, certainly two components: one, DSCR to slow down for a couple of reasons, and number two, we expected fix and flip to pick up. And actually, I'll add on a third, which is ground-up construction. Uh, we expected that to pick up as well.

[00:01:58] Um, and that's pretty much what we've seen this year. Um, with the rates staying higher for longer, um, the more and more DSCR, uh, which is the long-term rental products for those of you who don't know, are, uh, having a tough time penciling out. Uh, in addition to that, the competitive nature of that product has opened up that product mix to conventional lenders, so not just business purpose le- lenders such as myself.

[00:02:31] Um, and that's really, uh, taken the limited number of rental deals and, and sort of, uh, kinda squashed the volume a little bit on business purpose side, uh, across the, across the landscape. On the other hand, um, for us, uh, fix and flip loans are up, uh, as well as ground up. So whether that's because our investors are finding opportunities today...

[00:03:02] Uh, when we talk to our investors, they're certainly having to find new ways to find properties, whether it be, uh, off-market, um, um, auctions or various kinda MLS scrubbing. Uh, there's a lot going on to find the deals today. It's, it's very challenging, but, uh, as a wholesale lender, our brokers are, are sending us deals, so, uh, no complaints there, Rocky.

[00:03:30] Rocky Butani: Right. And, uh,

[00:03:31] let's talk about capital markets. Uh, uh, any- anything, uh, noteworthy as far as capital for private lending these days?

[00:03:40] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, it's interesting. So, you know, we're m- midway through the year and, um, you attend many of these, uh, industry-wide, uh, conferences, and the theme has been the same this year, which is the performance of our products, both rental and fix and flip, is solid.

[00:04:00] And what that has led to is an amazing, and a, a truly amazing amount of capital that wants to own these products. And there's any number of ways for the c- the capital participants, whether it be insurance, securitizations, whole loan trading, any number of ways for folks outside of origination to participate in these loans.

[00:04:27] But the loans are in demand, and I would say mainly because of performance

[00:04:33] Rocky Butani: And, uh, there's, uh, been a lot of companies that have done, uh, securitizations. I mean, other private lending shops have, have done securitizations. Uh, I know you're friendly with a lot of your larger competitors in the space. Um, any, uh...

[00:04:48] Are you seeing a lot more securitizations this year as opposed to last year? Has that slowed down or is it, is it picking up?

[00:04:55] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, last year there was a, a significant spike in securitizations. This year it has stabilized, but it's not because of a lack of demand for the paper. It's just a lack of, uh, product by originators to be able to feed these securitizations.

[00:05:11] When you go down the road of a securitization, you are beholden for that paper. And as, especially on the, uh, residential transitional loans, um, when those r- loans roll off, you have to replace them, and that's a big commitment in a challenging origination environment like we're in today.

[00:05:29] Rocky Butani: But the... By that you mean that, uh, lenders may not be as confident that they can keep up with the volume to, uh, refill the, the loans in that securitization, right?

[00:05:39] Jeff Tesch: That's exactly right. Yeah. And that commitment is ironclad, so you need to be able to refill those loans into the securitization until the, uh, securitization runs out. But, you know, uh, listen, uh, the money is there, Rocky. Like, the appetite for the securitization is there. Uh, originating the product is a different conversation.

[00:06:04] Rocky Butani: And, uh, and is there anything happening in, in, uh... Well, I, I guess this is an obvious one. Uh, with the,

[00:06:11] with the housing market, uh, the way it is, uh, th- this is due to probably high interest rates that are slowing down sales. Is that an issue for some of your, uh, your end customers that are, um, that are flipping houses or building?

[00:06:25] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. Like I mentioned, uh, for us, rental is off. Uh, whether it be residential transition or ground up is increasing on our side. Um- But that, that is largely attributed to our partners out there who are doing an amazing job in finding these deals, uh, and also specific geographies. We've really put a big focus on the Midwest, and that's paying dividends.

[00:06:56] Um, other areas of the country are, are struggling a bit, especially when it comes to finding the fix and flip properties. Um, Florida continues to have its challenges, although as we were recording here in July, I would, I would say that the market in Florida has stabilized. So fingers crossed for a quiet hurricane season this year.

[00:07:18] Um, if that's the case, I expect things to be trending in the, in a positive direction in greater Florida, uh, going into the fall. But, you know, there's other markets as well that it's more of the same. Um, Texas, uh, especially the Austin area continues to be a challenge. Uh, California, as you well know, continues to be a challenge.

[00:07:41] Although I will say this: if you buy it right in California, there is definitely money to be made, but it's all on the buy. And then on the East Coast, the Northeast continues to be really hot, um, which, you know, doesn't really, uh, kind of fit the narrative of everyone moving south and not staying in the North.

[00:08:06] Properties in the Northeast today are as tight as they've ever been as long as I've been in this business right now. Uh, so anyone in the business of fixing and flipping is doing really well if they can find assets. Um, rental continues to be difficult, finding ways to pencil those deals out. But, uh, it's really, as always, Rocky, a geography game when it comes to sort of the inventory across the US.

[00:08:33] Uh, but there are pockets of, of, of growth

[00:08:37] Rocky Butani: And, uh, with some of the, uh, the states that you mentioned, you know, I, I had it on my list to ask you about a few states in particular, 'cause, uh,

[00:08:46] from the data that, that I see from our partners at Forecasa and Elementix, uh, I can see that in the last 12 months, uh, it seems like Ohio has been your, um, the, the state where you've done the most loans.

[00:08:59] I see that it looks like you've done over 550 loans in the past 12 months in Ohio. So I wanted to go over these, these, uh, top states for you and, and, uh, get your take on it. Why, why Ohio? What's, what's the deal with, with that particular state?

[00:09:13] Jeff Tesch: Well, uh, not to sound like, uh, a chamber of commerce representative, but, uh, believe it or not, the state of Ohio was least, uh, recently ranked by CNBC as the number one business-friendly state in the entire, uh, United States economy, which is just mind-blowing.

[00:09:32] Like, you'd never think a northern state, right? Ohio's up north. You would never think a state like Ohio would win that award, but they do. And this isn't something that happened yesterday. We've been making loans in Ohio for a long time. The... Really, what it comes down to is they- they've enacted business-friendly legislation that has increased investment, and what that investment from corporations has led to is jobs.

[00:10:00] And when you increase jobs, housing follows quickly afterwards. And in a northern state like Ohio, there's a ton of legacy inventory there that is just ripe for fix and flipping. Uh, Columbus is the shining star, hands down, in, in the state of, uh, Ohio. Uh, but you can't sell some of these other areas short either, whether it be Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton.

[00:10:26] Like, these are all areas that are growing, and they're attracting new, uh, investment that is leading to the jobs that I spoke about, which is leading to housing, both RTL as well as ground-up. And because the housing is a bit more affordable, we're still seeing DSCR rental loans pen- pencil out, uh, at a pretty good qu- a pretty good clip in Ohio.

[00:10:52] Rocky Butani: But at this time, are most of the, the loans that you're doing in Ohio RTL for fix and flip and ground-up construction?

[00:10:59] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, they are. Uh, and that, that's a change. We used to have more rental loans in Ohio. Um, but on- once again, we're seeing that investment, um, from local investors in, in rehabilitating that inventory, which it's great for the investor, but it's even better for the communities, bringing these housing, uh, really a much-needed housing solution up to par in those communities.

[00:11:27] Rocky Butani: And Ohio historically has been one of those states that has a lot of, uh, housing that's, that's in, in the lower value or, or at least for lenders, uh, they tend to be smaller loan amounts. Um, are, are, uh, are, are you seeing a lot of these loans that, loan requests that come in that, that are, that are loans that are too small for, for what RCN can do?

[00:11:48] Or, um, does, uh, is, is that a factor at all in, uh, in-

[00:11:53] Jeff Tesch: In some of the tertiary markets, we do see, uh, housing that is below, uh, $100,000, which is kinda where we lose interest. Um, but for the most part, no. I... The growth in the state of Ohio has led to higher housing prices, but they started at such a low level that, you know, if you were to hear these, these, uh, specific deals, you'd be like, "Oh, that sounds like an amazing deal," which it is.

[00:12:21] It's just they're starting from a lower level. Um, and today that housing is still affordable in the state of Ohi- of Ohio

[00:12:30] Rocky Butani: It... And, uh,

[00:12:30] let's move on to, uh, the next state over, Pennsylvania, where you've done, uh, over 400 loans in, in the past 12 months. Um, anything noteworthy in Pennsylvania, um, compared to, let's say, in the past few years?

[00:12:44] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. So Pennsylvania is really a story of dated housing that needs rehab. Um, the economy's fine, it's solid. Um, you know, coming from Ohio to Pennsylvania, it's not the same story, but it is a story of growth. And Pennsylvania, especially in some communities that are often overlooked, such as the Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley, we love these areas.

[00:13:09] I mean, Philly continues to be a strong market for us as well, but some of these other areas of Pennsylvania have really gotten our attention. You know, when you think about the Lehigh Valley, there's been a tremendous, uh, amount of investment with warehousing and investment, uh, along the medical. And once again, all this leads to more needs for housing.

[00:13:30] A ton of housing that was built in the '50s and '60s, '70s that needs rehab, that's ripe for investors. And of course, Pittsburgh is a renaissance story. Uh, while the still- steel industry continues to thrive there, uh, it's so much more now. Uh, and, and investors are really taking advantage of it.

[00:13:51] Rocky Butani: Yeah, definitely.

[00:13:52] And, and, uh, it, it's also been a, a ci- a city that, that has always been historically affordable, and, and I'm, I'm sure that's still the case today compared to other parts of the state.

[00:14:03] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, it really is. And that affordability goes a long way to making investors feel a sense of comfort when they're buying these assets.

[00:14:12] They know that if they buy them right, they're gonna make money.

[00:14:17] Rocky Butani: Absolutely. Uh, the

[00:14:18] next state over that I was kinda surprised about is New York. Uh, I see that you've funded over 300 loans in New York in the past 12 months. Uh, I don't think that was the case in the past. What, uh, what's happening in New York that's, uh, causing the uptick in your loan volume there?

[00:14:34] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. That's really a story of not New York City, it's, it's outside of New York City. Uh, Long Island continues, for us, to be an incredibly strong market. Um, we're doing amazingly well on Long Island. And as a suburb of New York, New York is absolutely thriving, but it's... New York's not, New York City's not really our bread and butter.

[00:14:57] Uh, ton of multi-family housing there, which isn't what we concentrate on. We concentrate on the single family. And once again, and it, uh, it sounds a bit of a broken record here, Rocky, but it really is about finding pockets of housing in the United States- that were built 30, 40, 50 years ago that need rehab.

[00:15:19] These communities are strong, they're thriving, they have good roots, strong employment bases. And, and folks in their 30s and 40s that are buying a house today, they just want to move into a house that's move-in ready. All of these houses, for the most part, were built with strong bones, and investors are taking advantage of them.

[00:15:39] Long Island's been fantastic for us. Westchester County, even upstate. Uh, we've done really well in the Greater Buffalo area as well. We're seeing a lot of growth jobs, uh, from some of the areas the Midwest is bleeding over into the Greater Buffalo area. And, uh, well, maybe we could chalk it up to the Buffalo Bills' success as well, Rocky.

[00:16:01] Rocky Butani: Sure. Absolutely. Uh, great. Uh, we already talked about Florida a little bit. Uh, that was the next one I had on my list, but you already touched on that.

[00:16:09] Jeff Tesch: You know, Florida is such an important, important market for the US. Um, it is, it is the market that, uh, certainly has a tremendous, uh, spotlight shone on it all the time.

[00:16:22] But Florida's a big market, you know? It's a... It's... When you think about Miami versus Jacksonville, Jacksonville versus Tampa, it's very different. If I was to segment it out, I would say Miami is pretty steady. Upper East Coast, Jacksonville, Daytona is pretty strong. But the West Coast really continues to struggle.

[00:16:42] Uh, Tampa, Coral Gables... Excuse me, Cape Coral all the way down to Naples, they're just having a tough go of it right now, and we'll see how the fall, uh, shapes up.

[00:16:54] Rocky Butani: You mean with the hurricane season coming up?

[00:16:56] Jeff Tesch: That's right. We're really hoping for a quiet hurricane season. Um- We've turned the corner. The insurance market has stabilized, which was a big problem, uh, last year.

[00:17:07] But the, the, whether it be the state of Florida, they... or the actual privatization of some of these, uh, insurance markets, it has stabilized the market, which is starting to turn things in. It was getting to the point where investors were penciling out deals, and they weren't penciling not because of the property, uh, asset acquiring, uh, price, but it was actually the insurance that was driving these into negative cash flow.

[00:17:35] But we're starting to see that stabilize now.

[00:17:38] Rocky Butani: And has it stabilized because the state has stepped in to, uh, to mitigate some of the, the loss of insurance carriers?

[00:17:46] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. The, the state has done a good job in attracting some, some new underwriters to the state, which has really stabilized the market. Um, and you know, the hurricanes from two and three years ago really, it dealt a blow to Florida, um, that they're finally recovering from.

[00:18:05] Rocky Butani: Yeah, definitely. All right. That's great to hear. Uh, let's switch gears and, uh, talk about, uh, some of the things happening at RCN. Uh, you know,

[00:18:14] for people who don't know, RCN Capital's, uh, primarily a wholesale lender, uh, focused on private lending, RTL, and DSCR. Uh, anything new happening with your wholesale program?

[00:18:26] Jeff Tesch: Well, one of the biggest things with wholesale right now is the integration of the ground-up construction product into our wholesale platform. A ton of brokers, especially some of our, our newer brokers, don't have a lot of knowledge about ground up, and it's kind of scary, right? Like rehab we get. We buy the house.

[00:18:46] We figure out what the list is that you're gonna fix it. We come up with an as-repaired value and away we go. Ground up is a little bit of a different animal, but we have really taken the time to build out internal education programs for our broker partners that they can take these self-directed courses, get educated on how to talk the talk with ground-up construction.

[00:19:11] And these partners that have taken the time to invest in the training with their employees are really starting to see a market, really a market that is underserved from a wholesale component. And we're really starting to see some volume there, Rocky.

[00:19:27] Rocky Butani: It's also something I see where, where brokers have a, a, a tough time with construction deals because there's a land component.

[00:19:34] There's, there's the, the horizontal phase and then there's a vertical. And, and they don't know how to navigate it and, uh, uh, but, but that's great that you ha- you have those resources available, uh, to all of your broker partners.

[00:19:47] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, the education is key. I mean, we have a, a, a program that's called Amplify, and this is...

[00:19:53] it's self-directed, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We allow our p- our partners for free to educate their, their employees. And we believe that if we give to those partners what they need to be able to sell, w- we will be rewarded in spades. And by not charging for it, it is... it's just taken off and exceeded all our expectations, Rocky.

[00:20:19] Rocky Butani: Yeah. And, and a lot of credit to you because RCN has been very good about the, the education component for your broker network. So, um, I'm glad to hear that's paying off.

[00:20:29] Jeff Tesch: Appreciate that.

[00:20:29] Rocky Butani: Yep, yep. Uh, so

[00:20:30] I saw, uh, an announcement, uh, that you have a new division called Structured Finance Group. Um, tell us a little bit about that.

[00:20:39] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. So, uh, SFG, the Structured Finance Group, really... So listen, we've been in business a long time, 16 years. Um, we built the company on single-family housing, fix and flip, and then we added rental, and then we added ground up, right? That, that's our core. But we would get these requests for larger portfolio-style loans that most of our sales folks really weren't equipped to deal with.

[00:21:09] We had the access to the capital to be able to fund these, but we didn't have the internal team with the education to be able to talk about it. So not only the larger portfolio single family deals, but a multifamily family, whether it be, uh, buy, fix, and, uh, refi or even, uh, some stabilized. Now, the structured finance group got rolling about a year ago, and then of course some of the legislation on the larger, uh, uh, portfolios that, um, our government has decided weren't so favorable to the US housing kind of put a squash on some of that financing for these larger deals.

[00:21:53] It's coming around again now, but what we've seen is that the more structured, um, really serious investors that own hundreds and hundreds of houses, they're always looking for that next, uh, source of capital, and we're, we're glad to be in that game. It's, it... I will caution everyone, though, it is challenging right now.

[00:22:15] That capital for the larger deals is in flux, and it's not as stable as it was, uh, previous to this legislation.

[00:22:24] Rocky Butani: And the legislation you're talking about is that larger housing bill that, that, uh, restricts the number of houses that, that, uh, an institution can own.

[00:22:33] Jeff Tesch: That's correct. And that legislation, now enacted, um, has put some uncertainty into the larger capital markets that everyone is sorting through right now.

[00:22:43] Um, and it's certainly, um, sort of put a dark cloud over the larger portfolio deals. But we believe that a- as, as summer unwinds, there'll be some clarity there from a capital standpoint, and we'll be ba- we'll see more capital flowing into that area. But it's been great for us to be able to segment that area out and be able to put specialists behind it that know, that know the products and know what the investors need.

[00:23:13] Rocky Butani: And if it's not, uh, a large investor with hundreds of houses, um, how about, how about just a smaller portfolio, let's say between five and, and 50 homes? Is that still something that's handled by the structured finance group?

[00:23:26] Jeff Tesch: Anything over 20 homes would be structured finance group. Anything under 20 homes in a tr- in one single transaction would be handled by the regular, uh, account executive at RCN.

[00:23:39] Uh, the structured finance group is really for these multi-million dollar transactions.

[00:23:45] Rocky Butani: And, uh, you mentioned multifamily being part of that. Um, uh, how many units are we talking with, with those types of deals?

[00:23:53] Jeff Tesch: Zero to nine is still handled, uh, internally by the regular rep. Once you get over nine, uh, you get into a, a much larger, uh, deal, and that would be handled by the structured finance group.

[00:24:05] Once again, multifamily has nothing to do with the housing bill, but, uh, there was some, uh, belief that the multifamily, uh, product overall was overbuilt in the US. Capital was pretty nervous about that coming into this year. We're starting to see some data now with absorption rates really much better than folks had thought they would, uh, be, especially in Class A apartments, which is great news for the, uh, multifamily.

[00:24:32] Most of their, uh, loans that we're originating are B and C class rehabs, uh, with a eventual takeout.

[00:24:40] Rocky Butani: And for the takeout, is that something you guys are originating?

[00:24:44] Jeff Tesch: It is, although it's a struggle right now. The, uh, the takeout for some of these deals is extremely difficult. The capital still has some trepidation around it.

[00:24:55] Rocky Butani: Interesting. And, uh, the, what, how did the, the name come about? Was this a company that you acquired, or is this, this a new division and you just decided to give it a, a different name?

[00:25:03] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, we will absolutely chalk that up to the unbelievable, amazing internal RCN marketing team. Uh, they, uh, they took the challenge of creating a name for the group and, uh, did a great job with it.

[00:25:17] Rocky Butani: Nice. Uh, and then, uh, is, is that, uh, program still available nationally in all the states that, uh, that you currently lend in with RCN?

[00:25:27] Jeff Tesch: Yeah, the states that we're in, uh, that program is available and active. Um, a matter of fact, I think we've got a couple of multifamily loans that are closing in July. So yeah, the product's out there.

[00:25:40] Um, once again, you know, capital's interesting. Right now, the demand for single family asset loans and, uh, DSCR is as hot as it's ever been, but some of these more, uh, bespoke multifamily loans, the capital's a little bit nervous about it, but we are closing deals.

[00:26:00] Rocky Butani: Great. Glad to hear that. Uh, all right,

[00:26:02] anything else happening at RCN?

[00:26:05] Uh, anything else you wanted to mention?

[00:26:07] Jeff Tesch: Well, we're excited, um, for the ... And I know I've already talked about the ground-up construction. But we're excited for it. You know, Rocky, overall, the ... And you do a great job reporting on this. But the, the housing numbers don't lie. We continue in the United States to be anywhere from three to four million housing, houses sh- ho- three to four million single family homes short in the marketplace.

[00:26:35] And there's only one way to solve that problem is that's to build our way out of it. Can't legislate your way out of it. You can't discount or even interest rates. It, none of that solves the problem. The only thing that's gonna solve the problem is building more houses. We as a private lender specialize on funding homes for new construction in existing communities.

[00:26:59] So while, yes, large, especially publicly traded, um, new construction companies are very important and, and the work they do will help, but there are any number of investors around this, uh, United States that have opportunities to build new construction on existing lots in existing communities. We call these infill lots.

[00:27:25] These lots are everywhere in every community in the US, and they're just lots that were never built on. Um, you bu- the investors negotiate, they buy the lots, and then they build similar housing in established communities to what's already there. And they typically, because they're in such established communities, they sell very quickly.

[00:27:46] Rocky, we believe that this opportunity going into the fall is only gonna continue to have a, an amazing tailwind, and we're excited for it

[00:27:55] Rocky Butani: Definitely. And, uh, uh, let's talk about, uh, uh,

[00:27:59] another thing I wanted to ask you about is technology. Um, anything major happening at RCN? Uh, 'cause, uh, it seems like a lot of other lenders are going through this transformation of, of internal technology and, and, you know, portals and, and taking in loan requests.

[00:28:15] Um, what's your, uh, thoughts on that?

[00:28:19] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. So of course, a Bridge Loan Network, which is our proprietary system, um, that was brought under the house about a year and a half ago now, uh, seems like yesterday. Um, you know, that technology was built from the ground-up as the platform to be able to originate loans, not only for RCN, but all of our broker and correspondent partners have that internal access to the portal where they can run their, manage their pipelines, run their deals, get them funded.

[00:28:49] Um, we are about nine months into updating the next generation of that system. Uh, we're probably four or five months away from, eh, it'll probably be the end of the year. Um, nothing goes as quick as you want. Um, the next generation of our proprietary technology, uh, I can't say more than that right now, uh, but it's coming and, uh, we're super excited about it.

[00:29:18] Rocky Butani: I- you excited for conference season as well?

[00:29:22] Jeff Tesch: Not really. Uh Like, listen, Rocky, you and I have gotten to know each other so well and we see each other on the road. Um, I enjoy the summer so much because the, you get a respite from that travel season, right? Like, it's a nice long break without having to get on a plane and go somewhere.

[00:29:44] Um, so yes, it will be coming to an end here in the fall. Uh, I'll be back at it as always, but I, I'm definitely enjoying the travel break this summer.

[00:29:55] Rocky Butani: Yeah, me too. Uh, well, look forward to seeing you at the next one. Um, well,

[00:29:59] one thing I wanted to wrap up on is get your thoughts on, um, on what, what you see happening in private lending for the rest of the year, if, if anything's gonna be different.

[00:30:10] Any predictions or any thoughts about the next two quarters?

[00:30:14] Jeff Tesch: Well, I think some of what we talked about today continues to be a theme, which is, number one, the DSCR market, the rental market, that single asset, uh, rental loan, uh, continues to be a challenge to pencil out in a lot of markets. In addition, for the business purpose lenders, you're cons- you're gonna continue to see that increased competition from conventional owner-occupied lenders.

[00:30:39] Um, and listen, i- it's just this simple. As the market continues to stagnate on the owner occ side, um, lenders need to stay in business, and they have found that they can originate a rental loan the same way the business purpose lenders can, and that's, uh, that's chipping away at some of the business purpose lenders', uh, uh, not, not only individual loans, but larger, uh, structural changes in, in how that's being seen across business purpose, you know?

[00:31:13] And it's ... it has to be, it has to be taken into account when you're planning for your growth going into next year. Um, in addition to that, we think, uh, if we get a meaningful interest rate move, which we don't anticipate this year, um, a lot of that inventory is going to get sopped up pretty darn quickly.

[00:31:35] Uh, so lenders should be, uh, should be ready for that, although we don't anticipate it any time soon.

[00:31:42] Rocky Butani: You mean, uh, you think it's gonna just stay steady where it

[00:31:46] Jeff Tesch: is now? Uh, that's our prediction. Uh, we don't believe that there's any appetite for decreasing inte- interest rates in calendar year 2026, and that's unfortunate because that isn't how we came into the year.

[00:31:58] But, um, listen, the inflation numbers don't lie, and when you see inflation where it is today, the ... there's very little chance that the federal government, excuse me, the Fed, has, uh, the opportunity to lower rates. And, uh, the bond market has them hemmed in. I mean, the bond market doesn't lie. The bond market tells you where interest rates are gonna go, and that is not lower

[00:32:23] Rocky Butani: Yeah, definitely.

[00:32:25] All right. Well, Jeff, that's all I had on my list for today. Anything else you wanted to add? Anything I might have missed?

[00:32:31] Jeff Tesch: No. I mean, listen, I think at the end of the day, uh, it's amazing the amount of capital, and we, we touched on this, uh, continues to, uh, want to aggregate our business purpose loans. Uh, it's a testament to the hard work that's been done over the last decade to make our product as viable as it is.

[00:32:55] Um, a- and everyone deserves a little pat on the back for that, and, uh, hopefully m- more to come.

[00:33:04] Rocky Butani: Yeah. And especially RCN, you guys have been, uh, sort of a pioneer in, in our space and still one of, uh, the leading national lenders. Um, and it's, it's been fun to watch your growth.

[00:33:15] Jeff Tesch: Yeah. Well, um, anybody that's seen me, uh, it's always a testament to the team that we've built back, back at headquarters.

[00:33:23] Um, you know, most of the employees have, have been there since they started, and most people don't leave, and we're really proud of that. We're proud of the organization we've built and excited to continue to grow.

[00:33:36] Rocky Butani: Amazing. Love it. All right, Jeff, thanks for your time, and, uh, look forward to seeing you at a conference soon.

[00:33:41] Jeff Tesch: Thanks so much, Rocky.

[00:33:44] Rocky Butani: And that's a wrap for this episode. RCN Capital has been listed on PrivateLenderLink.com since 2016. You can find them currently in the wholesale section in the services directory, or visit rcncapital.com to learn more about their wholesale program. When you reach out, please mention that you heard about them from Lender Link and the Private Lending Insights podcast.

[00:34:06] Thank you for tuning in and listening all the way to the end.