Whether you call it extend-and-pretend or delay-and-pray, the strategy has become a favorite of banks holding too many CRE loans that could suddenly lose value. Nothing shocking here, but there's been a surfeit of sweeping themes and fewer details of banks trying to avoid putting pressure on their balance sheets.

The New York Times has pulled together some specifics as some big banks look to offload portions of commercial real estate portfolios to avoid losses when office property owners can't pay off mortgages.

"The banks know they have too many loans on their books," Jay Neveloff, head of Kramer Levin's real estate practice, told the Times. He said that some institutions are making discrete inquiries to see how great a discount they'd need to offer for buyers to pick up the worst of their lots. "The banks are going to a select number of brokers, saying, 'I don't want this public,'" he said.