Why we need the Bankless Financing System

The U.S. Census keeps track of interstate movement of people in the United States. Last Year, the U.S. Census recorded the smallest number of people moving in fifty years, since 1959. At that time the total population was only 179 million. Last year, the U.S. Population was 304 million. As a percentage of population, interstate population movement last year was the slowest since the census began mapping this data.

Americans are stuck in one place and simply cannot move.

One reflection of this lack of movement is in the shrunken number of homes that are bought and sold. To move, a homeowner usually must sell his home and buy another. In Douglas County, Colorado, the number of sold homes has slowed to a trickle, reflecting a drop of 70% from only a few years ago. Douglas County residents, like all Americans, are stuck in one place and simply cannot move.

The traditional method for a homeowner to relocate is to put their house on the market, receive an offer, sell their home to someone else who gets a new mortgage, move and buy another home with a new mortgage of their own. This relocation scenario has played itself out countless times and the reasons for this movement are both sound and everpresent. Some common scenarios are:

A couple have a new baby and want to move to a kid friendly neighborhood.

A couple have simply outgrown their old home.

An "empty nest" couple want to move closer to grand children.

A couple need to relocate for work reasons.

A couple divorce.

There are plenty more reasons that are personal to each homeowner. But what happens when the home sales system breaks down? Then people find themselves stuck in one place.

Right now we see the results of this home sales breakdown. Homeowners with stable lives simply wait for a thaw in the home sales market. They see that the home sales system isn't working and it would be fruitless and permanently damaging to sell into this broken market. Some homeowners find themselves forced to jump into the market whether they like it or not. They must sell at any price or face foreclosure and ruin. They consider short sales. They are not "willing sellers" and their homes are sold, if ever, to "willing buyers" who have motives distorted by the broken market. Its as if Fair Market Value has taken a holiday. The end result of this broken system is a steady downward spiral of home sale prices, home appraisal estimates, lifestyles, and hope for a better life.

This spiral must be broken. We are offering a solution.

On Tuesday, July 21, 2009, Robinson & Henry P.C. is inaugurating the Bankless Financing System or BFP for short. The BFP allows a buyer to buy and a seller to sell without need for a bank or mortgage company to be involved. Because of this, the broken components of the home sales system do not have to be a deal breaker. Issues such as a buyer's FICO score, a seller's appraisal, and thecredit crunch do not necessarily have to doom a home sale. People can move again.

Over the past few years, the media have conspired to force us into thinking of a home as a financial tool rather than as a place to live, grow and dream of the future. Many people got caught up in the rising tide of housing during these past go-go years and bought homes that did not address their actual needs. McMansions spread in Douglas County like weeds.

Deep down we all know what a home is. We have seen it on crocheted doilies, wooden plaques and magazines our entire life. Little mottos like "Home is where the Heart is," Dorothy clicking her heals and saying "There's no place like home". A home is not a piggy bank and frankly never has been.

Something has got to be done and we at Robinson & Henry P.C. want to help to fix this mess. In the past year, our office has written a number of stories concerning the housing problem. The prior stories include the following

The Real Estate Short Sale Dilemma

Why Banks don't have any Money

Buying a House with Monopoly Money

A BFP Story

We believe it is irresponsible for us to continue to harp on this great and grave problem without offering a solution. That solution is here.

It is the Bankless Financing Program. If you or anyone you know is stuck in one place and simply cannot move, you might want to speak to a realtor about the BFP. You can get unstuck.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a law firm at 757 Maleta Lane, Castle Rock, CO 80108, ph. 303-688-0944.