New York state will offer first-time homebuyers a new tax credit worth one-fifth of their yearly mortgage interest costs, building on the U.S. government’s program to spur the housing market, Governor David Paterson said on Monday.

The state’s mortgage agency, which helps low- and moderate-income individuals buy homes, will run the new Mortgage Credit Certificate program. The tax credit will only be offered to people who qualify under the agency’s income and purchase price limits, the Democratic governor said in a statement. People who get their mortgage from the state agency will not qualify.

 The federal $8,000 tax credit for people who are buying their first home expires on November 30.
New York’s metropolitan housing market has held up better during the downturn than others around the nation.
The New York index is still more than 73 percent higher when compared to January 2000, according to Standard & Poor’s/S&P Case-Shiller Home Price indices for May, although it has fallen nearly 20 percent from the June 2006 peak.
New York is the first state to offer this kind of tax credit, a Paterson spokesman said, though other states offer extra help to home buyers. For example, California in March began offering a $10,000 credit for new home purchases.
A New York homeowner paying 5.5 percent interest on a $150,000 mortgage would pay about $8,200 in interest in the first year, according to Paterson’s estimates. The new state tax credit would be worth $1,640, he said.
The remaining 80 percent of the mortgage interest will still qualify as an itemized tax deduction on federal returns.
New York will use about $80 million of its private activity bond program to pay for $20 million of the certificates.
The Internal Revenue Service sets limits on how much tax-free debt states can sell for private activities.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Housing/idUSTRE5794HT20090810

ROYAL Bank of Scotland has promised customers six months grace if they struggle to meet mortgage repayments.

 The NatWest owner said it wanted to “lift the pressure” on homeowners. A spokesman said: “We want to reassure customers.”
The Government last week urged lenders to grant a minimum three months breathing space.
RBS sold a near 60 per cent stake in the business to the Government last Friday - in exchange for a £20billion bailout.

www.thesun.co.uk

Home sales in the Orlando market jumped nearly 48 percent, but values fell by nearly 40 percent, according to the March report from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

Association members reported 1,653 existing home sales in March, compared with 1,120 in the same month a year prior. Realtors also put 2,956 homes under contract last month, a far cry from March 2008’s 1,679.

The median price of all Orlando homes resales fell 37.7 percent from $217,000 in March 2008 to $137,000 last month. The area’s average interest rate fell to a record low 4.67 percent.

Association members also reported 4,906 pending sales — considered a leading indicator of future sales — in March, more than double March 2009’s 2,398.

March home resales in the Orlando area — Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties — jumped nearly 58 percent, from 1,354 homes last year to 2,139 homes this year.

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/04/13/daily7.html

When you are considering how to ‘Dress your House to sell’ the key to remember is that you want to sell fast and for top money.

One of the most important aspects to consider is that purchasers are buying a home not just a house.

The purchasers of your property are ultimately trying to improve their lifestyle.
They are looking to buy a new home and will be spending a relatively large amount of money on this purchase.
If you present the property attractively it is more likely that your property will stick in their minds. If they find it more striking than other properties in the same price range, then even if they don’t offer straight away they will definitely be back for a second viewing.

When you apply either of these outcomes to selling your property, your potential buyer will either buy another house, or make you an offer lower than you want to accept.

There is a saying ‘Good First Impression’. This is vital to remember when selling a property during a recession. You want to ensure that the buyer falls in love with the property the very first time they see it.

NOTE: The first time your buyer will see your home is from the outside. This might be in a newspaper advertisement, online or from just driving past the property and seeing the for sale board.

The Front Of The Property
The exterior of the property is very important and surprisingly, commonly forgotten about.

Paint the front of the property, a fresh coat of paint will really brighten up the outside of any property.

If the budget and need is there then a new front door is a good idea, however if the old door will suffice, then a fresh coat of paint would be a good idea.

Make sure the front garden is immaculate with a nice path to the front door. Replace any cracked or broken paving slabs and ensure there are no unsightly weeds.

Windows
The first thing that your buyer will see as they walk up to your front door is the windows. Ensure that if they are wooden, the timber is sound and freshly painted. If the property is suited to uPVC double glazing and the budget allows I would highly recommend you install them.However if you do nothing else to the windows accept for ensuring the glass is clean and free of smears you will certainly be heading in the right direction.

Clean windows make the rooms look lighter and brighter.

http://www.propertysecrets.net/topic/post36036.html

About 12,000 houses in a five county viewing area have a “for sale” sign in their front garden.

If you are selling your home, how do you make your home stand out from the rest? One way is to put a virtual tour of your home online.

The virtual tour offers potential buyers a sense of being inside the home, you can almost feel the warmth from the fireplace.

We’ve all been hearing that now might not be the best time to sell your home, but realtor Doug Clifton says that’s not necessarily the case for eastern North Carolina. “We hear the gloom and doom of the housing market and our area of the world isn’t really like that; it’s true that we’re slower than we normally are, but houses are still selling.”

And some are turning to even more creative ways to sell those houses by using the internet.

“Any seller that’s out there, that has a property to sell, this is the way to go because the internet, world wide web, you’re going to get world wide,” said real estate investor MariAnn Harvey.

Harvey buys and sells homes for a living, so she thought, why not market her homes on YouTube. “We’re such a community of people who want everything fast and they want it at their fingertips and of course the computer is the fastest way to do it.”

With a little help from her son, she discovered how simple it is to make a virtual home tour.

Dara Dimitri posted a home tour on YouTube. “Most other houses online just have a few pictures to look at so you don’t get a flavor of what the whole house looks like.”

So Dara Dimitri decided to put a tour of her home online, and it seems to be paying off. “We have had several extra showings that I don’t think we would have gotten otherwise. I have the house listed on Craigslist with a link to the virtual tour so several showings have come as a result of that listing.”

http://www.wwaytv3.com/node/13962

Northern Rock has suffered losses of £45.9m since 2001 as a result of having to repossess property on its books.

Data from the nationalised lender’s securitisation vehicle Granite shows that in December alone the figure for repossession losses came in at £8.7m.
This amounts to an average loss per property of £ 19,348.

Of the properties that Northern Rock has not repossessed, some 6.3% of borrowers are behind with mortgage payments by at least a month.

The figures also reveal that 3,719 mortgage loans under Granite are now worth less than what was originally loaned out by Northern Rock.

It means that 1.33% of borrowers with assets under the Granite trust were in negative equity as at December last year.

The Granite securitisation vehicle does not represent all of Northern Rock’s mortgage book, but does give a clear indication of the scale of losses the nationalised lender is now facing.

A report by the Centre for Policy Studies has called on the British Government to learn the lessons of the 1990s and save the ‘tsunami’ of repossessions expected for this year.
The think tank, which was established by Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher in 1974, stands to promote the principles of a free society and free market economics.

Their call comes a few weeks after church leaders in the UK wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an economic recovery plan to be launched in the midst of the global recession.

Entitled ‘Save 100,000s homes from repossession’ the report from the CPS welcomes the limited steps taken by the Government – such as changes to stamp duty – but argues that these would only help a few households.

The think tank warns that if the Government does not act, repossession orders could exceed those in the 1990s.

Report author Natalie Elphicke, said: “The Courts have huge discretion in determining civil claims and can postpone, adjourn, stay or suspend a claim for repossession. If we are to stop the tsunami of repossessions then the Government must recognise the role of Civil Courts rather than ignore them.”

She added: “Court guidance for dealing with repossession hearings should be improved to assist those in need. There is a growing amount of case law that will help people stay in their home, but no clear guidance.”

Such reforms would be practical and would take account of each individual’s unique circumstances, she said.

For more information, http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3863

Mortgage-finance company in Washington Freddie Mac said it will allow some borrowers to rent out their homes after losing them to foreclosure.

The goal of the new policy is to prevent properties from becoming vacant so they won’t fall into disrepair.

Freddie also said it will allow renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. It has about 8,500 properties in the foreclosure process, but many are vacant.

“Keeping foreclosed properties occupied and in better repair will support local property values and promote a faster recovery in the housing market,” said Freddie Mac Chief Executive David Moffett.

Fannie Mae, which announced similar plans in January, said it has stopped about 20,000 foreclosure sales and halted 6,300 evictions of owners or renters this winter.

Under Freddie Mac’s new policy, tenants and former property owners need to demonstrate they have enough income to pay the rental bill.

Freddie Mac also said it would consider reinstating a mortgage for those borrowers who can qualify for a modified loan.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the government in September.

For more about this issue, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2008742377_freddiemacrent15.html

HOMEOWNERS in Johannesburg continue to struggle to meet mortgage repayments because of the prevailing credit crunch. The FNB residential property barometer, a survey of the property market based on data from local estate agents, indicates that in the fourth quarter of last year most homes were put up for sale by homeowners trying to downscale due to financial pressure.

The survey revealed that a total of 26% of homeowners across all income brackets were opting to sell because mortgage repayments were becoming too difficult to meet.

The recent interest-rate cut is good news and will provide at least some relief to over-burdened homeowners.

However, there are ways of easing the stress of bond repayments. Mark Beckett, CEO of Bond Choice, says: “Approach your bank as soon as you realise you are in financial difficulty. The banks want to assist clients and consider it a last resort to repossess homes. “Running away from the responsibility only compounds the problem in the future.” He says that extending the home- loan period from 20 to 25 or even 30 years will help to reduce the monthly instalment amount.

For more about this issue, http://allafrica.com/stories/200902130483.html

HOME repossessions are soaring in the credit crunch according to a shock new report — with one desperate family forced to live in a pigeon shed.
The Council Of Mortgage Lenders said there were 27,100 repossessions in 2007 and warned that this year there could be a 65 per cent rise to 45,000.
One family hit by the crisis are the Galloways. They had their three- bedroom semi repossessed in June when they fell behind on repayments.
Checkout operator Debbie, 31, and husband Philip, 42, have six children aged between four and 14.
While the cash-strapped couple sleep in a relative’s pigeon shed the children are having to live with another member of the family.
Distraught Philip says: “We worked hard and did our best to buy a house, to get on the property ladder and have something for our kids. “We tried to pay and tried to get help to sort it out when things got tough . . . but we were too late. No one would help us.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/real_life/article1519444.ece