Investor Loans in 5 Bank-Led States: Banks Make 83% at 7.75%

What the 2025 federal record shows in five bank-led states

Most pages on hard money in these states list lenders that advertise. The federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) file lists loans that were made, with the note rate. We downloaded the FFIEC and CFPB loan-level data for 2025, one file per state, and kept the rows for investment property made primarily for a business or commercial purpose: 8,865 in Arkansas, 7,469 in Mississippi, 6,331 in Kansas, 3,877 in Nebraska and 4,675 in Iowa.

HMDA has no “hard money” field, so we use the proxy of our other state pages (Oklahoma, Kentucky and Alabama use it too): originated, conventional, first lien, closed-end, not a reverse mortgage, 1-4 units, investment property, business purpose, no debt-to-income ratio, and a term of 36 months or less. We set aside the 30-month entries (11 in Arkansas, 14 in Mississippi, 11 in Kansas, 1 in Nebraska, 2 in Iowa), which look like 30-year loans keyed in years. A lender is a bank or credit union if its name says so (details at the end). The filter also drops open-end lines of credit, which a looser count keeps.

Short-term investor loans in five states, 2025 (HMDA, our filter)

The five states are not alike. Arkansas, Nebraska and Iowa are bank states with a handful of non-bank loans; Mississippi is a bank state with one dominant lender; Kansas is a two-market state. What they share is the price gap: in every one, the median bank note is 2.87 to 3.60 points below the median of the other lenders, and the middle half of the bank loans (7.25% to 8% pooled) sits below the middle half of the others (9.97% to 11%). Our national hard money rates page shows the same pattern for the 15 largest states, and our portfolio loans page shows how a bank that keeps loans on its books prices them.

Why the price differs: bank notes are a different product

The rate is not the only difference. The banks in these states write notes with a balloon payment, many for 36 months, and no non-bank lender in the five states reported a 36-month term.

Structure of short-term loans, banks against other lenders, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

The 12-month term is the common ground, and there the gap holds: banks at 7.5% to 7.75%, others at 10.32% to 10.99%. So the discount is not only a longer term. Interest-only is nearly universal in the other group (578 of 584 loans) and common at banks (1,742 of 2,891). A balloon flag means a lump sum falls due at maturity, so the exit has to be planned at the start; HMDA does not show whether a lender will extend.

State by state

Arkansas: 1,481 loans, 90.7% from banks

Arkansas is the most bank-led state in the table. 1,343 of 1,481 short-term loans (90.7% of the count, 91.9% of the dollars) came from 28 banks and credit unions at a 7.75% median; the 138 loans from the other 19 lenders had a 10.99% median, and 107 of the 136 that report a rate are above 10%. Only 1 non-bank loan is at or below 8%, against 1,036 of 1,343 bank loans (77.1%). 683 bank loans (50.9%) have a 36-month term and 1,315 carry the balloon flag (97.9%).

Largest short-term lenders in Arkansas, 2025 (HMDA, our name rule)

The largest lender, First Community Bank, made 283 loans (19.1%) at an 8.25% median, the highest of the five largest banks; Simmons Bank (150 loans) was at 7.5% and Arvest Bank (85) at 7.25% with a $225,000 median loan, tied with First Arkansas Bank and Trust for the largest of the group. The top three lenders made 40.6% of the loans and the top ten 70.3%. Kiavi Funding made 68 (4.6%) at 10.99%; it is the largest non-bank lender, ahead of Rain City Capital with 18, and its loans are 49.3% of all non-bank loans in the state.

Arkansas short-term loans by county, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

Banks make the market in every county shown. Pulaski County (Little Rock) has the most loans, 249, 205 of them from banks. Craighead County (Jonesboro) has a 7.5% median and 143 of its 145 loans from banks, 50 of them from Simmons Bank. Benton County, in the north-west corner, has the largest median loan ($255,000) and is where Kiavi is most visible, with 27 of its 130 loans.

Mississippi: 704 loans, one bank makes 40%

Mississippi has the highest bank median of the five states, 8%, and the narrowest gap to the other lenders, 2.87 points. 576 of 704 loans (81.8%) came from 19 banks; the other 128 loans, from 13 lenders, had a 10.87% median, and none of the 126 that report a rate is at or below 8%. The market is also the most concentrated: Community Bank of Mississippi alone made 285 loans (40.5%) at an 8.2% median and a $105,000 median loan, and the top three lenders made 55.4%.

Largest short-term lenders in Mississippi, 2025 (HMDA, our name rule)

BankPlus made 53 loans at 7.5% with a $295,000 median loan, the largest of the group (our arithmetic), and Renasant Bank 34 at 7.25%. Among the non-banks, Dominion Financial Services made 36 loans at a median of 11% (its 25th and 75th percentiles are both 11%), ahead of Loan Funder (19), RCN Capital (18) and Kiavi, which made only 13 (1.8%).

Mississippi short-term loans by county, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

Jackson County, on the Gulf Coast, is the exception to the bank rule: banks made 33 of its 62 loans, the median is 9.245%, and Dominion Financial Services (12) and Loan Funder (9) are among the three largest lenders. Madison County has the largest median loan ($295,000) and BankPlus made 16 of its 39. 28 loans carry no county.

Kansas: 647 loans, and Kiavi is the largest lender

Kansas is the least bank-led state of the five and the only one where a non-bank is the largest lender. Kiavi Funding made 170 of 647 short-term loans (26.3%) at a 10.49% median (middle half 9.95% to 10.99%) and a $205,000 median loan; 163 of them have a 12-month term. Banks and credit unions made 416 loans (64.3%, 62.3% of the dollars) from 34 lenders at a 7.5% median; the 231 non-bank loans had 10.49%. The non-bank loans are also larger ($205,000 median against $165,000). The 36-month bank note is rarer than in Arkansas: 55 loans, 13% of bank loans.

Largest short-term lenders in Kansas, 2025 (HMDA, our name rule)

CommunityAmerica Federal Credit Union (60 loans, 7.5%) is a credit union and sits in the bank group under our rule. The next non-bank after Kiavi is Anchor Loans with 11, so Kiavi made 73.6% of the non-bank loans in the state.

Kansas short-term loans by county, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

Kansas is two markets. On the Kansas City side, Johnson County and Wyandotte County together have 271 loans (42% of the state), and Kiavi made 60 in each, 120 in all, 71% of its Kansas loans. Wyandotte County has the highest median of the larger counties, 10.12%, because banks made only 32 of its 96 loans. Sedgwick County (Wichita) looks like Arkansas instead: banks made 75 of 88 loans at a 7.575% median, 35 of them by Peoples Bank and Trust Co. 42 loans carry no county, 22 of them from Exchange Bank.

Nebraska: 247 loans, the smallest sample

Nebraska has the fewest loans of the five, so read its percentiles as indications. 219 of 247 loans (88.7%, 91.0% of the dollars) came from 19 banks at a 7.5% median (middle half 7.25% to 7.75%); the 28 non-bank loans, from 10 lenders, had a 10.67% median. None of the 28 non-bank loans is at or below 8%, and 193 of 219 bank loans are. Bank terms are the shortest of the five: 116 loans at 12 months, 53 at 6 months and only 12 at 36 months.

Largest short-term lenders in Nebraska, 2025 (HMDA, our name rule)

No lender has more than 15.0% of the state: Pinnacle Bank made 37, Dayspring Bank and Exchange Bank 34 each and Frontier Bank 30. West Gate Bank has the lowest median of the group (6.75%) on 12 loans. Lincoln Federal Savings Bank of Nebraska (7 loans) files under an abbreviated name and we classed it as a bank by hand. Kiavi made only 4 loans; the largest non-bank, RPE Home, made 7.

Nebraska short-term loans by county, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

Douglas County (Omaha) holds 41% of the state loans and banks made 89 of its 102, 29 of them Dayspring Bank. Lancaster County (Lincoln) has the lowest median of the larger counties, 7.25%. 16 loans carry no county.

Iowa: 396 loans, and the widest bank discount

Iowa has the lowest bank median of the five, 7.35%, and the widest gap, 3.60 points: 337 of 396 loans (85.1%, 86.0% of the dollars) came from 33 banks and credit unions, against 59 loans from 15 other lenders at 10.95%. Hills Bank and Trust Company made 131 loans (33.1%) at a 7.38% median. Kiavi made 33 (8.3%) at 10.95% and is 56% of the non-bank loans. 276 of the bank loans carry the balloon flag (82%), the lowest share of the five, and the bank term mix is the most varied: 115 at 12 months, 62 at 9 months and 59 at 36.

Largest short-term lenders in Iowa, 2025 (HMDA, our name rule)

DuTrac Community Credit Union made 15 loans at a median of 5.5%, the lowest median of any lender with at least 10 loans in one of the five states (our arithmetic); Central Bank made 28 with the largest median loan of the group, $265,000.

Iowa short-term loans by county, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

Iowa splits by metro. Linn County (Cedar Rapids) and Johnson County (Iowa City) are Hills Bank territory: it made 79 of Linn's 95 loans and 37 of Johnson's 40, and every Johnson County loan came from a bank. Polk County (Des Moines) is the pricier market, 8.5% median, because banks made only 28 of 50 loans and Kiavi 17.

Beyond the five: every state where banks make most of these loans

We ran the same filter on all 51 jurisdictions (50 states and the District of Columbia). 14 have a bank-and-credit-union share of 50% or more of short-term investor loans under our name rule. Five are covered above. Four have their own page: Oklahoma, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. The rest are small markets, listed here so the pattern can be seen in one place.

Short-term investor loans, states with a bank share of 50% or more, 2025 (HMDA, our name rule)

North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming have between 47 and 97 loans each, so a single lender can move their medians; the non-bank group in North Dakota is 13 loans, 12 of them from Choice Financial Group, whose filed name has no bank word and whose charter we did not check, so we left it in the non-bank group. Louisiana (54.8%) is in the table because its bank share is just above half, but its non-bank group, led by Kiavi (63 loans) and Loan Funder (31), is large. For the full set of 51 states, with bank share, medians and DSCR-type loans, see the data file. Our national hard money rates page classifies lenders by federal agency code instead of by name and shows the 15 largest states; its Arkansas row (1,482 loans, 90% banks) agrees with this page to within one loan because it keeps one 30-month entry that we set aside.

The exit: DSCR-type loans in the same five states

A short-term loan is usually a bridge, so the next question is what replaces it. We counted loans with the same filters but a term of 360 months or more (30-year rental-style loans, called DSCR-type here).

DSCR-type investor loans, five states, 2025 (HMDA, our filters)

In Mississippi, Kansas and Nebraska the 30-year group is larger than the short-term group; in Arkansas and Iowa it is smaller. The price level sits close to the bank's short-term note: medians of 7.125% to 7.5%, against 7.35% to 8% for bank short-term loans and 10.49% to 10.99% for non-bank ones. The lenders are different: banks made 111 of the 2,694 loans (4.1%), and Kansas has the largest bank share of the five, 7%, led by Mid America Bank with 40 loans at 7.25%. Kiavi made 35 DSCR-type loans in Kansas and 17 in Iowa. So an investor who finances the purchase with a local bank usually refinances elsewhere; see our pages on DSCR loan rates and the BRRRR method for how the two steps fit, and DSCR loans denied for the denial side.

What the gap costs on a median loan (our arithmetic)

The note-rate gap is interest only; HMDA does not report points or fees for these loans, so the true gap can be larger or smaller. On each state's median loan, the difference between the non-bank and the bank median rate is:

Extra interest per year at the non-bank median instead of the bank median (our arithmetic)

Each row is the state median loan (all lenders) times the gap in points. Use our hard money loan calculator or the fix and flip calculator to add points and holding months to a real quote.

Where Kiavi fits in these five states

Kiavi pays us a referral fee when a loan closes through its button below. We show it because it is the lender we have a contract with and, by the 2025 federal record, the largest non-bank short-term lender in Arkansas (68 loans), Kansas (170, the largest lender of any kind) and Iowa (33); that is volume, not a ranking of price. The same data says what the button cannot: in all five states the median bank note rate was 2.87 to 3.60 points below the median non-bank rate, so get a local bank number first. Visio Lending and Lima One Capital pay us nothing.

What a reader can do with this

1. Start with the banks already lending in your county. The tables above name them: First Community Bank, Simmons Bank and Arvest Bank in Arkansas; Community Bank of Mississippi and BankPlus in Mississippi; Peoples Bank and Trust Co, Mid America Bank and CommunityAmerica Federal Credit Union in Kansas; Pinnacle Bank, Dayspring Bank and Exchange Bank in Nebraska; Hills Bank and Trust Company in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area. A bank that has made dozens of these loans nearby is more likely to have a product than one that has made none.
2. Ask about structure before price. 92% of the bank loans carry the balloon flag, and the terms run from 6 to 36 months. Ask what happens at maturity, whether the note can be extended, and how draws are paid; HMDA shows none of this.
3. Place a non-bank quote on its own distribution. For the 584 non-bank loans the middle half was 9.97% to 11%. 179 of the 579 non-bank loans (31%) were at or above 11%.
4. Check your county. Wyandotte County in Kansas, Polk County in Iowa and Jackson County in Mississippi did not look like their states: banks made fewer of the loans there and the medians are 10.12%, 8.5% and 9.245%.
5. Line up the exit before you borrow. The 30-year market is a different set of lenders. Price the refinance at 7.125% to 7.5% medians, not at the short-term note, and see our best fix and flip lenders page and hard money lenders overview for the national names.
6. Do not read a median as a quote. Your credit, experience, property and plan decide the price; the medians show where loans were actually made in 2025.

What this data cannot see

• Points, fees and guarantees. No loan in these files reports origination charges or discount points as a number that we could use for this comparison, and HMDA does not report personal guarantees, draw schedules or closing speed. The note-rate gap is a floor on what is knowable, not a total cost.
• Who is missing. Under Regulation C an institution reports only if it meets the loan-volume test, which includes having originated “at least 25 closed-end mortgage loans” in each of the two preceding calendar years, and the rule also has an asset-size exemption for banks, savings associations and credit unions. Small community banks that lend to local investors may therefore be absent, and every count is a floor.
• Names, not charters. We classed a lender as a bank or credit union when its name contains bank, credit union, savings, FCU, trust co, national association or similar words, and corrected two by hand (First Dakota National Bank and Lincoln Federal Savings Bank of Nebraska, whose filed names are abbreviated). Our national page uses federal agency codes; the two methods can differ by a few points in a state.
• Different borrowers. Banks may lend to borrowers and collateral that private lenders turn away, or the reverse. The file shows the price each lender accepted on the same kind of loan, not who was refused.
• Law not read. We read no state interest, licensing or foreclosure statute for this page and state none.

FAQ

Loan data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA 2025 loan-level data from the Data Browser API, one file per state, filtered to investment-property loans marked as made for a business or commercial purpose (saved in the sources folder); lender names from the FFIEC 2025 filer list; field definitions from the FFIEC public LAR data fields page; the reporting test from Regulation C, 12 CFR 1003.2, as published by the CFPB; county names from the Census Bureau 2020 county code file. All counts, shares, medians, percentiles and interest figures are our arithmetic. State statutes were not read and are not cited. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal, tax or lending advice, and not a loan offer.