Replies to post #153179 on Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[Steel Penny]

Obit - unless I completely misunderstand how FnF operate, as the remainder of the assets pay off and are thus converted to cash, wouldn't they operate as a REIT does and use the cash to acquire new assets (Real Estate) and try to provide the shareholders with income (and jobs for the REIT's employees and mgmt)?

I realize that we are having to speculate on a lot is issues for which we have little info. A and/or B may have already thought this thru and simply not disclosed, OR, they may each not care as it does not impact their individual propositions. Arrrrg.

Do I hear anyone out there ready to volunteer to rip this all apart and contrast and compare what's best for (you name the group)?

[rosen62]

I do not know. And I know very little about Ackman's plan. Neither can I say if the "REIT" idea refers to the GSEs becoming large landlords.

However, I did a quick count on HomePath.com to see how much real estate Fannie Mae owns. A rough count by state led me to over 49,000 homes. This is Fannie's REO and could be an outdated number, a figure that isn't taking into account all what they owe and/or a figure that is not contemplating future foreclosures that may lead to an increase in the REO count. Freddie may have as much?

So one can say that the possibility of Fannie and Freddie becoming very large landlords is there. But, at what cost? What is the state of such real estate? How much improvements are needed? Have the neighborhoods where they own property kept up? Is there infrastructure in place to start a rental operation? This could in some fashion prolong their existence regardless of other visions/offers/plans.

Nothing has been said that enables to establish a relationship between Ackman's action and the 3rd ammendment problem. Has he been outspoken in this regard? For all we know he could be simply placing a bet that there will be a win at the courts. Which may make any deep reform by Congress a lot harder. Perhaps his bet is that the future is better regulated GSEs that stay. So no run off and no Berkowitz.