RCN Capital Appears on the Inc. 5000 List of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies

RCN Capital, the leading nationwide private lender for real estate investors, has been named on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America, ranking No. 2083. RCN Capital also ranked No. 119 on the Inc. 5000 Regionals Northeast list earlier this year.  “In such a dynamic fast-growing US economy that the Inc. 5000 tracks, it is truly humbling to be added to their list for the second straight year,” said Jeffrey Tesch, CEO of RCN Capital. “The foundation of RCN Capital is truly its amazing employees. As our company approaches the five-billion-dollar mark in originations in our short history I would like to thank all of the current and former employees who have gotten us here. Without the dedication of those team members and the support of their families, we would not be achieving such incredible milestones today. The RCN catchphrase is ‘we are just getting started’ and it could not be more true today!” RCN Capital provides diverse financing options specifically for real estate investors that are purchasing or refinancing single-family and multifamily investment properties. Starting from humble beginnings as a regional lender offering short-term fix & flip and bridge financing, RCN has expanded its national footprint as well as its product offerings over the last decade. The company now offers ground-up construction financing, short-term bridge loans, fix & flip financing, and long-term rental financing for investors looking to build out their real estate portfolios. RCN’s focus on wholesale as well as retail lending in the private lending space with an emphasis on partner relationships and providing superior customer service has continued to propel the company’s growth. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. About RCN Capital RCN Capital is a South Windsor, CT based national, direct, private lender. Established in 2010, RCN provides commercial loans for the purchase or refinance of non-owner occupied residential and commercial properties. The company specializes in new construction financing, short-term fix & flip and bridge financing and long-term rental financing for real estate investors. For more information on RCN Capital and RCN’s loan programs, visit www.RCNCapital.com.

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WORD OF THE DAY: Cognoscente

[kahn-yə-SHEN-tee] Part of speech: Noun Origin: Italian, late 18th century Definition: A connoisseur; a discerning expert Examples of Cognoscente in a sentence “Jackie took special pride in her reputation as a film cognoscente.” “While he could make anything behind the bar, Jerome worked best as a wine cognoscente.” About Cognoscente This word — which translates directly into “people who know” — developed in the late 18th century from the Italian words “cognoscent” (getting to know) and “cognoscere.” Did you Know? While there are specific training programs that one can apply to in order to become a wine cognoscente, a person can also become a connoisseur through personal experience. Attending workshops on the craft, listening to recommendations from people established in the field, and getting hands-on experience in wineries are all recommended ways to get started as a sommelier.

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Homebuyer Competition Falls to Lowest Level Since Early Months of Pandemic

Higher mortgage rates and home prices are pushing some house hunters out of the market, leaving those who remain with more options and negotiating power Nationwide, 44.3% of home offers written by Redfin agents faced competition on a seasonally adjusted basis in July, compared with a revised rate of 50.9% one month earlier and 63.8% one year earlier, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. That’s the sixth-straight monthly decline and the lowest share on record with the exception of April 2020, when the onset of the coronavirus brought the housing market to a near standstill. The typical home in a bidding war received 3.5 offers in July, compared with 4.1 one month earlier and 5.3 one year earlier, according to data submitted by Redfin agents nationwide. Redfin’s bidding-war data goes back through April 2020. Homebuyer competition is cooling as more Americans are priced out of the housing market due to higher mortgage rates and inflation. Properties are lingering on the market longer and the housing shortage is easing up, giving buyers more options to choose from and room to negotiate. Some sellers are slashing their asking prices as a result. Roughly 8% of listings on the market each week experience a price cut, the highest share on record. “The market is wildly different than it was a few months ago. Buyers are competing with one to two other offers instead of four to eight. Some aren’t facing competition at all,” said Alexis Malin, a Redfin real estate agent representing buyers in Jacksonville, FL. “There’s not the same sense of urgency. House hunters are scheduling tours four days in advance instead of one, and they’re becoming much more selective. If a home doesn’t check all of their boxes, they’re waiting until they find one that does. Six months ago, buyers were taking any house they could get.” Malin continued: “Buyers have also started writing offers for less than sellers’ list prices—a reversal from the height of the pandemic, when homes were going for tens of thousands of dollars over asking. I haven’t written an over-asking offer in a month.” With the scales of the housing market tipping increasingly in buyers’ favor, Spokane, WA Redfin agent Brynn Rea has a few tips for sellers: “Sellers should make sure their home is move-in ready and not overpriced,” Rea said. “They should do everything possible to make their property pristine for the masses—invest in updates and make it feel fresh. Doing little things like replacing faulty faucets or painting walls will help sell a home more quickly.” Phoenix, Austin and Nashville Have Among the Lowest Rates of Homebuyer Competition In Phoenix, just over one quarter (26.6%) of home offers written by Redfin agents encountered competition in July—the lowest share among the 36 U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed. Rounding out the bottom five were Riverside, CA (31%), Seattle (31.5%), Austin, TX (31.7%) and Nashville, TN (33.3%). Many of these areas attracted scores of out-of-town homebuyers during the pandemic, pushing up prices and rendering them prohibitively expensive for some house hunters—one reason they now have relatively low bidding-war rates. The average out-of-towner moving to Nashville last year had $736,900 to spend on a home, 28.5% higher than average budget for local buyers—the largest gap among U.S. cities recently analyzed by Redfin. To be included in this analysis, metros must have had a monthly average of at least 50 offers submitted by Redfin agents from March 2021 to March 2022. Scroll down to the bottom of this report to see a table with data on all 36 metros. Raleigh, NC had the highest bidding-war rate, at 63.8%. Next came Honolulu (63%), Providence, RI (60.5%), Philadelphia (60.4%) and Worcester, MA (54.8%). Housing-Market Competition Declined Most in Orlando, Nashville and Sacramento In Orlando, FL, 37.4% of home offers written by Redfin agents faced competition in July, roughly half of the 81.4% rate seen a year earlier. That 44-percentage-point decline was the largest among the 36 metros in this analysis. It was followed by Nashville (33.3% vs. 73.1%; -39.7 ppts), Sacramento, CA (34.3% vs. 73.3%; -39 ppts), Charlotte, NC (34.6% vs. 71%; -36.4 ppts) and Colorado Springs, CO (36.8% vs. 71.2%; -34.3 ppts). There were no metros in which the bidding-war rate increased on a year-over-year basis. Townhouses Are Most Likely to Encounter Competition Townhouses were more likely than any other property type to face bidding wars, with 43.5% of Redfin offers encountering competition in July. Next came single-family homes (42.9%), condos/co-ops (39.7%) and multi-family properties (38.9%). Some homebuyers have sought out townhouses, which are typically smaller and more affordable, because they’re priced out of the market for single-family homes. The typical home that went under contract in March was 1,720 square feet, down 1.8% from 1,751 square feet a year earlier, a recent Redfin analysis found. To read the full report, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/real-estate-bidding-wars-july-2022

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OPPORTUNITY ZONE REDEVELOPMENT AREAS CONTINUE TO TRACK NATIONWIDE HOME-PRICE INCREASES IN SECOND QUARTER

Half of Zones Analyzed See Median Home Prices Rise At Least 5 Percent from First Quarter to Second Quarter of 2022, and At Least 20 Percent Annually in Half of All Zones ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, released its second-quarter 2022 report analyzing qualified low-income Opportunity Zones targeted by Congress for economic redevelopment in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In this report, ATTOM looked at 5,198 zones around the United States with sufficient data to analyze, meaning they had at least five home sales in the second quarter of 2022. The report found that median single-family home and condo prices rose from the first quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2022 in 63 percent of Opportunity Zones around the country and went up at least 5 percent in roughly half of zones analyzed with sufficient data. Typical values also shot up at least 20 percent annually in about half of Opportunity Zones with enough data to analyze across all quarters. Moreover, median values increased in about half the Opportunity Zones by more than the 8.8 percent quarterly and 15.3 percent year-over-year gain seen for all markets nationwide in the Spring of 2022. Those gains extended similar patterns seen over the past year as home prices in distressed neighborhoods around the nation continued to keep up with gains in the broader national housing market. Typical home values in Opportunity Zones remained lower than those in most other neighborhoods around the nation in the second quarter of 2022. Median second-quarter prices fell below the national median of $346,000 in 77 percent of Opportunity Zones, about the same portion as in earlier periods over the past year. Considerable price volatility also continued in those markets, as median values dropped quarterly in 37 percent of them, probably reflecting the small number of sales in many areas. “Homes in most Opportunity Zones represent affordable options for real estate investors and consumer homebuyers in a market where both home prices and mortgage rates have been rising,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “With home prices up 15 percent compared to a year ago and mortgage rates nearly doubled, both investors and homebuyers may find the lower purchase prices for homes available in Opportunity Zones very attractive.” Median prices also were under $200,000 in 49 percent of the zones during the second quarter of 2022. But that percentage under $200,000 was down from 58 percent in the second quarter of 2021 and 52 percent in the first quarter of 2022. In another ongoing sign of market strength, prices spiked at least 25 percent from the second quarter of last year to the same period this year in a larger portion of Opportunity Zones than in other neighborhoods around the country. Opportunity Zones are defined in the Tax Act legislation as census tracts in or alongside low-income neighborhoods that meet various criteria for redevelopment in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Census tracts, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, cover areas that have 1,200 to 8,000 residents, with an average of about 4,000 people. The ongoing price spikes inside Opportunity Zones in the second quarter was one of the latest signs of how high buyer demand coupled with tight supplies of homes for sale throughout the U.S. may have priced many households out of more upscale neighborhoods into lower-priced markets. Demand continued into the Spring buying season even as home mortgage rates rose in the second quarter to nearly 6 percent, gasoline and other fuel costs soared, inflation shot up to 40-year highs and economic uncertainty across the country increased. High-level findings from the report: Median prices of single-family houses and condominiums rose from the first quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2022 in 2,928 (63 percent) of the Opportunity Zones around the U.S. with sufficient data to analyze, while declining in 37 percent. They increased from the second quarter of 2021 to the same period this year in 3,692 (77 percent) of those zones. By comparison, median prices rose quarterly in 69 percent of census tracts outside of Opportunity Zones and annually in 82 percent. (Among the 5,198 Opportunity Zones included in the report, 4,654 had enough data to generate usable median-price comparisons from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2022; 4,793 had enough data to make comparisons between the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022). Measured year over year, median home prices rose at least 25 percent in the second quarter of 2022 in 1,883 (39 percent) of Opportunity Zones with sufficient data. Prices rose that much during that time period in just 34 percent of all other census tracts outside of opportunity zones throughout the country. Among states that had at least 25 Opportunity Zones with enough data to analyze during the second quarter of 2022, those with the largest portion of zones where median prices rose year over year were in the West. They were led by Utah (median prices up, year over year, in 97 percent of zones), Arizona (93 percent), Nevada (93 percent), Oregon (89 percent) and Idaho (88 percent). Of the 5,198 zones in the report, 1,763 (34 percent) still had median prices in the second quarter of 2022 that were less than $150,000. That was down from 41 percent of those zones a year earlier. Another 778 zones (15 percent) had medians in the second quarter of this year ranging from $150,000 to $199,999. Median values in the second quarter of 2022 ranged from $200,000 to $299,999 in 1,118 Opportunity Zones (22 percent) while they topped the nationwide second-quarter median of $346,000 in 1,172 (23 percent). The Midwest continued in the second quarter of 2022 to have the highest portion of the least-expensive Opportunity Zone tracts, with median home prices of less than $175,000 (69 percent), followed by the Northeast (45 percent), the South (45 percent) and the West (6 percent). Median household incomes in 87 percent of the Opportunity Zones analyzed were less than the medians in the counties where they were located. Median incomes were less than three-quarters of county level

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WORD OF THE DAY: Scantling

[SKANT-ling] Part of speech: Noun Origin: Old French, early 16th century Definition: A specimen, sample, or small amount of something; the size to which a piece of wood or stone is measured and cut. Examples of Scantling in a sentence “There’s only a scantling of milk left, so please pick up a new carton.” “The shed door was built to a scantling of 7 feet tall.” About Scantling In addition to describing a small amount, scantling can apply to measurements of all sizes in woodworking or building. It can be the size of a certain cut of wood or stone. Or it could be a set of standard dimensions in shipbuilding. Then scantling could also just be a name for a particular type of wood. Use your context clues to decipher the scantling. Did you Know? Scantling, a little bit of something, comes from the Old French word “escantillon,” which means sample. While the words look very similar, scant (barely amounting to a specified number or quantity) does not share this root. Scant comes from the Od Norse word “skammr,” meaning short.

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INVESTING IN AMERICA’S HOTTEST MARKET – SAVANNAH, ga

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE PODCAST RELEASE – AUGUST 24 Join the PIP Group’s Founder and CEO, Charles Sells, as he joins REI INK’s CEO, Robert Rakowski, as they discuss the amazing real estate investment opportunities available in Savannah, GA. In this presentation you can learn: – The benefits of investing in Savannah, GA – The Savannah “Power in Numbers” – More about the Savannah “Dream Maker” programs – Fix-and-Flip strategies in the Savannah market – Build-to-Rent strategies – Extreme flips and multi-unit flips strategies  – And much more, including actual case studies! Charles Sells and the PIP Group have 27 years of experience investing in distressed real estate. They have assisted countless investors passively invest in everything from tax liens to multifamily long-term rentals. They are the largest “flipper” of homes in their market and in the past 7 years have done about $90MM in flips/buy and hold properties. DO NOT MISS THIS IMPORTANT PODCAST!

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