Monday, December 17, 2007

Corona goes National, in a bad way....

The Wall Street Journal ran this piece about Corona. It's an interesting read

Here's some highlights, but I recommend you read the entire article. (Calle Canon Rd is in the Trilogy development).

The Oropezas arrived at Calle Canon Road in 2004. Corona appealed to them because of its quality of life and regional cachet. "It was labeled as the new Orange County," Mrs. Oropeza says. Public records show they paid $557,000 for a four-bedroom house and took out a $500,000 mortgage. Her husband is an area manager for an auto-parts retailer and she is a purchasing manager for a firm that sells dietary supplements.

As property values skyrocketed, they refinanced three times, most recently in late 2006, for $835,000, Mr. Oropeza says.

The couple say they used some of the money they pulled out of the house for home improvement, such as a backyard waterfall. But Mr. Oropeza says the bulk was used to pay off credit-card arrears. "We were in a vicious cycle of refinancing our home to get out of debt," he says. "We banked on selling the house, but that's where we failed."

The couple listed the house several times, even before the final refinancing, which raised their monthly payments to about $6,300. Earlier this year, they were asking $839,000 for the house. But it just sat. Elsie Cambone, the Coldwell Banker agent who had the listing, says prospective buyers were put off by the vacant home next door.

Meanwhile, Mr. Oropeza expected to be transferred to Texas, so the couple began house hunting there in 2006. In June, they bought a 3,600-square-foot home for $283,000 in the Houston suburb of Katy, Mrs. Oropeza says. "It was easy. We had good credit. The deal was done in seven days."

In the run-up to their move, she says, the couple lived off credit cards to "make sure we had cash for the house payments" in Corona. They packed up in June, and then took their 9-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter on a long-planned Caribbean vacation. They returned to Calle Canon Road, "got in our cars and drove to Texas," Mrs. Oropeza says.

Neighbors Ms. Lefranc and Mr. Saffold are dismayed over the Oropezas' departure and note that shortly before leaving, the couple bought a new Lexus. "I think they took money out of their house and split," Ms. Lefranc says.

Mrs. Oropeza says that she and her husband recently bought a Lexus and a Chevrolet Suburban with no money down. She denies that the family intended to abandon the house. The choice was straightforward, she says: "It was easier to keep the house in Texas than the one in California."

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a freaking bunch of losers.....By the way I am judgemental, so no need to inform me! What is wrong with this country? Lets have greed and capitalism is good, but if you lost then cry and call up government assistance.

Anonymous said...

People like the Oropazas are what is wrong with this country, and why it's likely that it will never be right again. The pigwife states that it was easy to get anything they wanted because they had good credit. Walking away from their house will change that, but it probably won't change their basic piggishness. And 3600sf for themselves and 2 kids? Pigs.

Tyrone said...

Truly disgusting, and they can live forever at the Housing Bubble Hall of Shame®.

Anonymous said...

Hey Tyrone, your blog site is awesome.....

Anonymous said...

Those people are garbage.

On another note, I went to see some of the new developments in N. Corona this past weekend. Specifically the new MBK homes Rivermist and Foxborough. Do you have any insight to those developments?

golfer_X said...

Those are in the area known as Eastvale. Also known as the armpit of Corona or the implosion capitol of Corona. Look for the posts tagged with Eastvale. There's plenty of them on here to give you an idea about that area. Personally I'd avoid it like a woman that pees standing up.

Anonymous said...

Eastvale is a hot, dusty, stinky place with foreclosures galore. If you are looking at new homes make sure they are dealing. Nothing out there should be over $120 sq/ft. There are just way too many REO's selling for around that price. Even at $120 sq/ft be prepared to have the value of the home drop. I'm convinced that area will drop to around $80 - $100 sq/ft (or about 2001/2002 prices).

Anonymous said...

$80-$100/sq ft?! That would be an absolute steal, even if it is all stinky out there. The builder is dealing though, current offers are at $133/sq ft with upgrades.

golfer_X said...

I've already run across a couple of homes in the Eastvale area selling for $100/sf. They were BIG-Uns though. There are quite a few listed in the teens ($112 etc). Like this one just around the corner from the homes you were looking at.

http://redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1170807

I'm pretty sure you could get any of the REO's for quite a bit under what they are listed for. Rumor is they are starting to deal. Might be time to start practicing the lowball pitch.

golfer_X said...

Woops, the link did not have enough space. Here's the MLS #

MLS#: I07142638

Anonymous said...

Overheard at work today: "The only problem with Housing Kaboom is that he doesn't update enough."

Golfer X we need more 'Boom!

Anonymous said...

Give us more. This site rules. Any info On East Highland Ranch would be great.