Thursday, June 17, 2010

Major Banks Are Changing Course

Point the finger at whoever you want for the popping of the housing bubble, cast the blame where you will, but everybody will agree that banks have taken a huge hit. With the free market system being what it is, short sale 'experts' and loan modification companies have popped up everywhere. The government has totally got involved, federal changes have been made, and some markets have even dropped by more than 50%, and the rest is history.

Through this whole process, larger banks and lenders have always been a couple steps behind. That is now changing, banks are now offering to get more involved in short sales to expedite sales for all parties considered. They have looked at the market analysis, and realized that it is they and their investors who have to take the majority of the hit.

So now rather than the bank giving a short sale approval for a specific buyer, the bank approves a lower price and the realtor can offer the home for the lower price to any prospective buyer. This will eliminate a lot of the problems that realtors are seeing on the MLS with housing prices that are 'subject to third-party approval.' Now the house is already approved and ready for sale. Said an executive at Bank of America, "The big difference is that BofA, as well as some other big banks, are changing the model from reactive to proactive."

This change will dramatically affect the way the real estate market evolves over the next couple of years.

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