The banks were really eager to repossess houses during the last mortgage crisis (next one coming soon), and they were often quick to do so, but then they discovered - you have to maintain them, pay taxes, pay utilities, keep the grass cut, have people walk them periodically to look for damage, etc. If the market is crashed you had to hold them for long periods until a buyer came along. In the end a lot of banks were wishing they had negotiated instead.
I had a house that I kept vacant for several years thinking I might return and several things I learned is 1) service people don’t like doing business over the phone because they fear not being paid so it’s very difficult to maintain things remotely 2) about half the time people don’t do the work if they think you won’t notice (i.e I paid almost five grand for monthly termite control over three years but when I flew in and inspected the stations it was obvious they had not been maintained for an extended time, the lawn company I hired kept sending me bills long after they stopped coming out) 3) if people think your house is vacant they dump trash there and the city charges you hundreds of dollars each time it happens - plus you then have to pay to dispose it. Having a tons of construction waste someone dumped in your driveway removed is expensive 4) raccoons don’t perceive drywall as a barrier, and if they get in they bring all their friends.
I had a house that I kept vacant for several years thinking I might return and several things I learned is 1) service people don’t like doing business over the phone because they fear not being paid so it’s very difficult to maintain things remotely 2) about half the time people don’t do the work if they think you won’t notice (i.e I paid almost five grand for monthly termite control over three years but when I flew in and inspected the stations it was obvious they had not been maintained for an extended time, the lawn company I hired kept sending me bills long after they stopped coming out) 3) if people think your house is vacant they dump trash there and the city charges you hundreds of dollars each time it happens - plus you then have to pay to dispose it. Having a tons of construction waste someone dumped in your driveway removed is expensive 4) raccoons don’t perceive drywall as a barrier, and if they get in they bring all their friends.