"Shame on Bank's Shadow Inventory"

It's easy to point fingers at the Big Banks because... well, they do things that make us crazy!  That whole "Too Big To Fail" thing is scary.  They possess enormous power and power is both influential and intimidating.  Like the famous con, Willie Sutton, said when asked why he robbed banks:  "Because that's where the money is!"  Now, I'm assuming that if things get better for all of us, then they'll get better for the banks too.  Here are two things the banks could do - Today - that would help get the economy back on track:

1. Release the burgeoning "Shadow Inventory" of bank-owned homes to the market. 
2. Fast track the "Short Sale" process.

Shadow inventory is the bulk of bank-owned homes that are NOT listed for sale on the market.  They lurk in the shadows - maybe even on your street.  They often have no utilities turned on, which leads to mold and mildew issues in warm climates... and frozen pipes in colder areas.  They are abandoned with unkempt lawns and look "tired."  They are an open invitation to squatters and drug activities.  Estimates put the list at between 600,000 and 1,500,000 such properties.  A huge bulk of these are in Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan.  On a local note, there are many in Palm Coast and Flagler County, FL.  I know of one in Palm Coast that is now vacant and unlisted for over three years!  The banks hide them in anticipation of better times and as a way to mitigate their losses, relative to government scrutiny.  Talk about "fuzzy accounting" practices!  Yes, it would hurt, short term, if they all came on the market at once.  But it's like a bad toothache.  Do you want it to hurt real bad for years... or get the root canal over with now?




You've all heard the horror stories on Short Sales.  Well, as a daily real estate practitioner, many of them are true.  It's better than it was two years ago, but it's still pretty untenable.  Here's a novel idea:  Instead of playing games and jerking everyone around, how about if the Big Banks take some of the $$ Hundreds of Billions of Dollars $$ they got from Uncle Sam and Fast Track the process!  How?  When a borrower is in default, say four months, and a mortgage workout isn't in the cards, get the property on the market with three things:  1.  A fresh appraisal.  2.  An MLS listing with a Realtor, at a "bank approved" price.  and 3.  A date, by which the property must close. If it does not sell, then the process starts over.




The missing link, of course, is what's going on, that none of us can see or fathom.  The stuff that gets talked about in Big Bank Boardrooms and Swiss Ski Chalets and in Corporate Jets... over Grand Marnier and Cubans...