The Rain City Way: How a Lifestyle Lender Became a National Platform

Описание: Fred Rea, Founder of Rain City Capital, and Ian Morrell, Partner since 2013, join Kevin Kim to trace Rain City’s path from courthouse-step hard money lending in Washington to becoming a national private lender. They discuss their early days funding foreclosure auctions, the decision during COVID to expand beyond the Pacific Northwest, and the push to access institutional capital through securitization. The conversation covers growth challenges, lessons learned in DSCR lending, culture-driven leadership, and how Rain City balances portfolio flexibility with scalable capital markets execution.

Fred Rea is the Founder and President of Rain City Capital, one of the Pacific Northwest's leading private lenders — and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company two years in a row. Since founding Rain City in 2009, Fred has grown the firm from a regional hard money lender into a scaled lending platform, having now funded over $3 billion across thousands of transactions for real estate investors nationwide.

With 20+ years in the mortgage industry, Fred brings rare hands-on perspective to the lending world — having personally flipped 50+ homes and developed 15+ ground-up construction projects. In 2024, he led Rain City through its first institutional securitization, a $200M milestone that cemented the company's position among the most sophisticated private lenders in the country.

Beyond building Rain City, Fred is the host of the Good Nuggets podcast and the founder of Flip It Forward, a charitable initiative that donates fix-and-flip profits to community causes. He lives in Bothell, Washington with his wife and two children.

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Ian Morell is a partner and Chief Revenue Officer at Rain City Capital, as well as the founder of Caliber Real Estate, which he successfully built into one of Washington’s fastest-growing companies before its acquisition in 2020. With a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship and recognition as a former 40 Under 40 honoree, Ian’s impact in the real estate and lending world is impressive, he has personally funded over $600 million in loans and manages a 200-door rental portfolio spanning Seattle, Nashville, and Austin.


Bullet Points:

[00:00:00] Introduction to Fred Rea and Ian Morrell of Rain City Capital.

[00:02:26] Fred’s start in hard money lending and early foreclosure auction experience.

[00:03:45] Competing at the courthouse steps and the origins of their partnership.

[00:06:43] Launching with a fund model and lessons from the 2008 crash.

[00:10:00] COVID as the inflection point for national expansion.

[00:11:14] From hyper-local lending to scaling beyond Washington and Oregon.

[00:15:37] Early exposure to the secondary market and loan sales.

[00:17:28] Balancing portfolio flexibility with institutional capital access.

[00:21:17] Setting the goal to become a top 10 lender nationally.

[00:22:44] Company culture: “Have fun and get it done” as a core operating philosophy.

[00:26:38] Team growth from 25–30 employees to a nationwide footprint.

[00:28:15] Staying focused on fix-and-flip as core business while expanding vertically.

[00:33:17] Lessons learned from DSCR lending losses and underwriting discipline.

[00:37:19] Advice for lenders entering DSCR: broker first and understand buyback risk.

[00:41:41] Ground-up construction and ADU lending opportunities.

[00:42:39] Entering securitization: preparation, roadshows, and operational demands.

[00:52:42] Payoff speeds, portfolio management, and structural considerations in rated deals.

[00:54:45] Market outlook for 2026: flat RTL, opportunity in DSCR and construction.

[00:58:04] Expansion plans: broker channel growth, table funding, and California entry.

[01:00:00] How brokers and borrowers can connect with Rain City Capital.


Links:

Learn more about Rain City Capital at https://raincitycapital.com
Learn more about Fortra Law at: https://fortralaw.com
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)