[quote author="Geotpf" date=1250213281][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1250210086]Everyone must have me on ignore.
I posted this back in April and no one responded:
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What does it cost the banks to just sit on those foreclosures? With all the TARP being thrown their way? can they just do it underwater style and hold until prices rebound?
Just wondering because I keep reading about all these houses that have been taken back but are not on the market? where o where have those foreclosures gone?
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Now everyone's talking about OREOs... and milk.</blockquote>
<strong>As I've pointed out before, the banks have taken back very few properties that they haven't then turned around and sold as REOs. There's no shadow inventory there.</strong> The only shadow inventory, pre-shadow inventory as it were, is the houses where the homeowner is in default but the bank hasn't foreclosed. Maybe they are working out loan mods or short sales, maybe the banks don't want to take back the houses for accounting reasons. But that's what's happening-everybody's getting the year-of-free-rent program.</blockquote>
And... as I have pointed out before your <strong>opinion</strong> of shadow inventory is totally and completely wrong. You have never once backed up your <strong>opinion</strong> with any statistical data, even after I showed you the math of the data that shows there are <strong>8000+</strong> REOs in OC that proves your <strong>opinion</strong> is just that, your <strong>opinion</strong>. Either start backing your <strong>opinion</strong> up with some actual data that proves it, or get used to me coming back with the factual data that shows you are <strong>totally and completely wrong</strong>.
There are several reasons why the banks aren't turning their REOs, and it isn't collusion to keep the market from crashing, it is because they do not have the capacity to handle it, or they risk having their capital ratios destroyed if they marked to market the REOs so they hold them at inflated values. Countrywide/BofA is inundated with REOs, but they are turning the low and high end in about 120 days, with the high end taking a little longer. This isn't always the case with them, but the majority of their REOs are turning in about that time. JPM/Chase is taking forever to turn properties, 6-8 months, and even longer for the high end (see 25 and 33 Ridgeview). Then you have banks with capital ratios issues like the regional banks and Citi. <a href="http://www.redfin.com/CA/Villa-Park/17832-Aberdeen-Ln-92861/home/4368527">Take this home in VP for example</a>. It took Citi 5 months to get it on the market at $625k, a price that is $26k too high and that is being nice. My friends offered $600k for this place when it was a short sale back in Nov/Dec, but Citi countered with $630k. I told them they should counter back with $580k because that is what they will be taking it back for in 3 months. I was amazed at my accuracy on that one, I say it was just dumb luck. Anyway, it just proves they are stubborn on price, and they don't want to cave in to lower offers because if they did it would kill their capital ratios. This really is a dead bank walking, and they have every incentive to keep from having to mark to market their RE portfolios, <a href="http://www.worldaffairscouncil.org/index.php?eid=2756">just like Raj, Sanjiv, and Marvin said</a>. Yes, not only did I attend that event, but had drinks with the three of them afterward. Then there is the FDIC, which is just now starting to dispose of the REOs they took on from IndyCrap, WAMU, and all the other banks.
Lastly, the reason why I research these numbers and want to know them, has a lot more to do with just posting them on IHB to prove people like you wrong. These numbers are very important for me to know and how it could impact me. I share them with IHB not to just prove people wrong and prove my bearish standpoint, I share them with IHB because IHBers should understand what the facts are and what the actual data shows. I don't have to share this info, and one day the info I have will probably not be free.