Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office just sent me an outline of the Senate Democrats’ plan to extend and expand the home buyer tax credit. Much of this was covered in my previous blog post. But there’s one new detail that hasn’t been reported elsewhere. It will cost $10.8 billion. That’s a bit more expensive than the existing credit, which will have cost taxpayers about $8.5 billion by the time it expires Nov. 30.

Some more details:

*The credit is available for homes that go under contract by April 30, 2010 and close within 60 days after that.

*It will be attached to a bill to extend unemployment benefits, but it’s unclear when that bill will be voted on.

Full story is available on Business Week

Could the controversial appraisal system imposed nationwide by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in May — and now tied to lowball property valuations, busted home sale transactions and higher fees to consumers — be on its way out?

It just might be. Under a bipartisan amendment approved Oct. 22 by the House Financial Services Committee, the “Home Valuation Code of Conduct” would be terminated early in the existence of a proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Full story is available on The Washington Post

Tree.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:TREE) today announced that it has added a new $75mm mortgage warehouse line at its LendingTree Loans mortgage operation in Irvine, CA. The new facility is made available by Chase Mortgage Warehouse Finance (a unit of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.), has a term running through October 29, 2010, is available for funding newly originated Agency and FHA loans and has customary financial covenants.

Doug Lebda, Tree.com’s Chairman and CEO stated, “This is a great nod of support for Home Loan Center’s financial strength and gives us added capacity and flexibility as one of our current $50mm lines reaches the end of its term in December. We are very pleased to be working with an outstanding institution such as Chase in this very critical area of our business.”

Full story is available on Reuters.com

A loan modification will bring some changes in your current mortgage loan terms, through which you can make your payments more affordable, and help your out in your “difficult” time.

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The recession has seen billions of dollars in homes enter foreclosure, and this trend is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. This has left millions of people homeless or at risk of losing their homes because they simply don’t have the funds to make the payments. If the professionals at the loan modification programs provider Home Rescue, LLC had their way, however, these homeowners would modify home loan rates and end the nightmare.

As Home Rescue, LLC explains, there are numerous mortgage foreclosure solutions available to homeowners that can help them prevent foreclosure and ease the strain on their finances. One such homeowner, Jim, sought help from the experts at Home Rescue. And, after a few short sessions, they would modify home loan interest rates, forgive arrearages, taxes, and attorney fees, which were paid by the lender, to reduce Jim’s debt load by $32,000.

Full story is available on Online PR News

Unless extended by last-minute Congressional action, the door will slam shut at midnight Nov. 30 on an $8,000 opportunity for qualifying first-time home buyers. And if you don’t have all your financial ducks in a row, you stand to lose not only a huge chunk of cash, but most likely your new home as well.

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, buyers who meet income and ownership restrictions and complete their closings before Dec. 1 can get up to $8,000 knocked right off their 2009 tax bill. The benefit is considered a tax credit rather than a tax deduction.

Full story is available on CreditCards.com

Kathleen Pender wrote an interesting article at SFGate.com about the recent Senate vote on extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit. The extension, which is likely to be voted on next week, not only extends the current first-time homebuyer tax credit until April 30, 2010 (contracts must be signed between Dec. 1 2009 and April 30, 2010, with settlement taking place by June 30 2010), but adds another element: a tax credit of up to $6,500 for move-up buyers who already own a home. The bill requires these buyers to have been living in their primary residence for at least five years.

Income limits have also been raised: up to $125,000 for single buyers and up to $225,000 for buyers who are married and file joint tax returns.

Full story is available on Examiner

Banks and mortgage companies have foreclosed on 5,000 residential properties in the St. Louis region so far this year. But a growing number of homeowners are managing to save their houses by convincing lenders to cut their monthly payments.

Borrowers just shouldn’t expect an easy time.

“Mortgage modifications” are becoming more common, and more lenient, although bottlenecks at mortgage servicers continue to frustrate homeowners. Many still are rejected and sent to foreclosure.

Full story is available on stl today

Mill Group, a specialist property company, will next week launch a £500m institutional investment fund to target residential property in London and the south east.

It will become the latest company to explore the potential for investing in the nascent recovery in the housing market. There has been a wave of fundraising for vehicles promising the chance to acquire residential property at muchreduced prices from the peak in 2007.

Mill Group’s vehicle, called the Investors in Housing fund, will have a co-investment strategy similar to the government’s shared equity scheme, which will see it provide money to aspiring homeowners looking to take their first steps on to or climb the property ladder.

Full story is available on FT.com

Congress is currently considering whether or not to extend, and even expand, the Homebuyer Tax Credit. The current credit which gives up to $8,000 to new homebuyers (singles earning up to $75K and couples earning up to $150K) will expire on December 1st. Leading the fight to have the credit extended and expanded is (big suprise) the National Association of Realtors. They are proposing that the credit be increased to $15,000 and be available to all homebuyers, not just first-timers. This is an expensive proposition that will do very little to encourage home buying that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.

Full story is The Progressive Pulse