> Banks don't liquidate assets to get "lendable money" so I guess maybe I don't understand the original statement at all then. True - what I meant was they can

> Banks don't liquidate assets to get "lendable money" so I guess maybe I don't understand the original statement at all then. True - what I meant was they can't just have a house on the books and loan out 100% of the difference between its value and what's still owed on it, because if the loans start defaulting they need a margin of error in case they can't sell the house for what they thought it was worth at the time of buying.