Re: Why don't banks not rent out instead of paying for preservation?

Banks are in the lending business, not the landlord business. The quicker they can sell a foreclosed property, the quicker they can get out from under a serious problem.

As for a quick cleanup before renting, most foreclosure properties have been deteriorating for years. Usually they need more than a couple of hours of cleaning. They need major rehab before thay can be fit to live in.

And speaking as someone who has been there, selling a tenant-occupied property is very different from selling an owner-occupied one. The owner has a huge incentive to keep the property looking good and to help in showing it. A tenant has no incentive to cooperate. I have shown rental houses with dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and a pile of panties on the bathroom floor. I'll never do that again.

When I want to sell a rental property the first thing I do is move the tenants out. The second is to make the property as pretty as I can at a reasonable cost.

Dond