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

THOUSANDS more Brits than usual face home repossession this year as the credit crunch costs jobs.

One of them is IT consultant James Cousins, 41, from Sittingbourne, Kent, who lost his job with Lloyds TSB eight months ago.

As James, married to Bev, 48, struggled over the next few months to find work to pay his bills, his mortgage lender began the process of claiming back his three-bed house.

Here, CAROLINE IGGULDEN brings you his diary of the fight for his home…

February 1 2008: Negotiate a fixed-rate mortgage for two years at 5.99 per cent with Mortgage Express, owned by Bradford & Bingley.

Payments on the £190,000 loan will be £956 a month plus £100 to repay arrears from November 2007, when I was jobless for a month.

March 1: Start a new contract as an IT consultant with Lloyds TSB, on £40,000 a year.

September 1: Contract with Lloyds TSB ends but I have another job to go to.

September 5: New position withdrawn due to downturn. Gutted.

September 8: Phone Mortgage Express to explain I have lost my job. Pay £800 on mortgage.

October 1: Receive a standard letter from Mortgage Express highlighting my arrears, which means £30 monthly admin fee.

October 27: Start a new IT job.

December 1: Lose job after just five weeks. Can’t believe it.

December 2: Tell lender about losing my job but manage mortgage payment of £956.

April 3: Mortgage Express call to say the next stage of repossession will start soon as my arrears are now around £4,500.

April 6: My wife is doing double shifts at Sainsbury’s.

April 17: Receive a letter from Mortgage Express saying legal proceedings will begin to repossess my home. I mention Shelter said I should be eligible for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme announced in the Budget.

May 3: Fantastic news. My lender and I have an agreement: For five months they will suspend repossession as long as I pay £300 per month. If, after five months I still haven’t got a job, I would be eligible for the Government’s Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme for two years, where the Government pays 66 per cent of mortgage interest.

Not out of the woods yet but at least I can concentrate on my job search without worrying myself sick.

JAMES’S REPO TIPS

Talk to your lender, keep them informed of your situation

December 5: Hear about a mortgage rescue scheme but can’t find details on Gov website.

December 15: Apply for dozens of jobs, like I do every day now.

January 3 2009: Make a £200 payment towards mortgage.

January 10: Start a part-time taxi-driving job for extra cash.

January 26: Wife Bev is made redundant by Clinton Cards.

February 13: Mortgage Express have told an agent from their pre-litigation team to visit me, which will cost me £94.

February 20: The pre-litigation agent arrives unannounced. He asks me to fill in an income/ expenditure form.

February 28: Stressed, so visit my doctor, who prescribes anti-depressants. I’ve worked for 20 years and never thought I could fall in to such a desperate situation as I am in now.

March 10: Call the UK’s leading debt charity, CCCS, for advice. They say I could file for full bankruptcy to release me from all debt but I would lose everything.

March 14: This month we managed to pay £600 to Mortgage Express because Beverley worked as many hours as possible before her job ended and my stepdaughters Sharrona, 24, and Chantelle, 21, paid extra housekeeping.

March 31: Job interview for the NHS in Cambridge (125 miles from home). They say no thanks.

www.thesun.co.uk

Despite Government promises to help keep people in their homes in the downturn, repossessions are soaring. More than 100 homes a day are being seized by lenders - that’s a massive 50 per cent up on last year and the highest level since the early Nineties.

But as RICHARD DYSON explains, not everyone is a loser.

The investors - making a killing

The dinner-jacketed staff are welcoming, the sales patter slick, the surroundings plush. Welcome to the first auction of repossessed homes by American firm REDC (Real Estate Disposition Corporation).
Tempted by the growing number of home repossessions in Britain, REDC launched its UK arm, auctiontoday.co.uk, last month to offer a ‘wide selection of properties at auction prices’. More than 400 homes are listed on its website - all repossessions.
The function room at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead near Newcastle upon Tyne is packed with eager bidders keen to pick up a bargain.

http://www.dailymail.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

A HOMEOWNER who is losing £12,000-a-month while trying to sell his £1million property hopes to beat the credit crunch by selling it in a RAFFLE. Brian Wilshaw, 64, is selling 46,000 tickets at £25 each for a chance to win his 11.5 acre Oldborough Retreat. The estate comes with a five-bedroom house, four two-bedroom holiday lodges, 9.5 acres of woodland and a two-acre fishing lake.

Situated in countryside near Morchard Bishop near Crediton, Devon, the estate is a former holiday complex but Brian is now retiring and wants to sell-up. Winner The dad-of-three decided to raffle the retreat because the housing market and credit crunch have seen the market stagnate. If you would like to buy a ticket please see link at the bottom.

Brian said: “This has been our dream home but now we are retiring we want to let ordinary people have the chance of a lifetime to live here. “Rising house and land prices have put property like this one way out of the reach of most people. “We put the house on the market last year but it was already becoming obvious that the market was slowing down. “We’ve had this idea for a number of years now. Everyone who came here on holiday used to say ‘If I had the money I’d buy this place’.

“I would absolutely love to see the face of the person that wins it when they walk in because it’s going to change their life.” The house has two ensuite bedrooms, one master bedroom, whirlpool bath, a double garage and a large lounge, small study, dining room and kitchen. Nearby are four holiday lodges each boasting two double bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and dining area, which can be rented out or sold off individually. All five properties are situated in woodland with a private drive, gates and a lake with carp, tench, perch, roach, rudd and eels. Heating engineer Brian and his wife Wendy, 49, bought the estate 14 years ago and ran it as a small holiday park until 2006.

Advertisement Brian said: “It’s well worth £25 a ticket. At 46,000-to-one our odds are a lot better than winning the Lottery.

For more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1349439.ece

Catherine Zawadski, 89, upped sticks because 52-room Balfour Castle on tiny isle Shapinsay, near Orkney, was “a bit too much to manage”.

The Polish Army captain’s widow was last night settling in to a drab, grey £280,000 four-bedroom house in Kirkwall, Orkney, after almost 50 years in her grand home.
Last night one stunned local said: “She can still see the castle from her new garden — but I am not sure if that is more of a curse than a blessing.”

Mrs Zawadski was unavailable for comment. But her son Richard has admitted: “We are selling because it’s a bit too much to manage.”

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.