Bank of America this afternoon announced their new enhanced short sale relocation assistance program. They said “for a limited time, we are offering enhanced relocation assistance payments in which qualified homeowners who initiate a short sale without an offer could be eligible to receive $2,500 – $30,000* in relocation assistance and owe no more on their mortgage with the sale of their property”.

This also applies to Countrywide borrowers.

The homeowner must participate in one of the pre-approved price short sale programs, such as HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) or Bank of America’s proprietary program.

Call me now and let me explain how their program works and let’s see if this increased assistance program makes sense for you.

April saw a decline in new Notice of Default filings after a spike in March. Foreclosure data also saw declines in filings for Notice of Trustee sales.

Here’s the monthly chart for April.

Home sales dipped from March numbers but are still above the 12 month trend line.

Home prices also dipped from the March numbers.

Pending home sales are mixed compared to March, but are still higher than one year ago numbers.

To see detailed charts for Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo, please see the links below.

The percentage of single family homes that were distressed sales in the month of  April are:

Ventura – 40%      Oxnard – 53%      Camarillo – 38%

Sold prices – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph
• Quarterly graph ending Q1

Sold prices – Condos in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph
• Quarterly graph ending Q1

Numbers sold – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph
• Quarterly graph ending Q1

Detailed data for single family homes sold in:

• Ventura
• Oxnard
• Camarillo

Detailed data for condos sold in:

• Ventura
• Oxnard
• Camarillo

Detailed monthly data for pendings (in escrow) – single family homes and condos:

• Ventura
• Oxnard
• Camarillo

All data is taken from the Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS.

Grab a pencil and let’s see where the housing cost numbers are today as you consider whether to continue to rent – or make the leap into home ownership.

Understand this is only number crunching and doesn’t consider other crucial decisions – like, are you willing to commit to one home for a period of time? Renters can give 30 days notice and move on.

So I’ve arbitrarily picked out 2 scenarios – 1) buying a $200,000 condominium in the very popular Todd Ranch condos complex in Ventura and 2) buying a “typical” $400,000 single family house.

Both examples use FHA financing with a 3 1/2 % down payment, 3.75% at today’s interest rate (good credit, etc), and a 30 years fixed rate.

Here’s how the numbers play out:

A Todd Ranch condo:

Mortgage payment – $894
Mortgage insurance – $201
Taxes – $190
HOA – $325
Total = $1,620 per month

Rents in Todd Ranch? About $1,650 – $1,750 depending on size and loacation.

Note this analysis doesn’t take into account tax benefits. You’ll deduct the property taxes and interest on your tax returns for an extra “pop” to your income. But don’t buy a home just because you get some tax benefits – that’s merely icing on the cake.

Buying a $400,000 single family house:

Mortgage payment – $1,788
Mortgage insurance – $402
Taxes – $380
Insurance – $63 (homeowners insurance premiums can vary depending on several factors)
Total = $2,633

Rents for a single family home vary substantially, but will probably be in the low $2,000 range to mid $2,000+ range.

The key takeaway here – for investors, it used to be a rule of thumb you needed a 50% down payment to break even on cash flow. Today, a minimal down payment of 3 1/2% about breaks even.  Now you know why investors are snapping up real estate! Just food for thought…