another foreclosure ghost town

[Liberal_in_LA]

Undone by their dreams

Drawn by the promise of affordable housing, thousands put down roots in arid Hesperia. But long-term security proved an illusion.

Dirt is cheap in the Victor Valley, and amid tumbleweeds and rabbit brush, Joshua trees and juniper bushes, home developments rise up like islands where the desert has been rolled back.

About 300,000 people call this region home. Baked in the summer, frozen in winter, it is scoured by winds that sweep down the mountains — and yet they come, drawn by what they can't find elsewhere in Southern California: the promise of large and affordable houses in clean and safe neighborhoods.

In 2006, Dawn and Michael Meenan found what they were looking for in Hesperia, in a community called Mission Crest. But they had declared bankruptcy four years earlier and were uncertain they could buy a house here. Then the phone rang.

"Your loan has been approved."

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Then the housing bubble burst, and the recession kicked in.

Construction stopped when a builder filed for bankruptcy in April 2008, leaving nearly 100 graded lots bare and six Craftsman-style houses ready for roofing and stuccoing that never happened. A sign advertising home sites stayed up even after the phone number was reassigned.

Foreclosures started to sweep through the community, creating a patchwork of disrepair. For Sale signs dotted the streets. Vandals targeted empty homes. Boarded-up windows and weed-choked yards detracted from well-maintained houses with tile roofs, recessed entries and stone and brick detailing.

In the last four years, according to the San Bernardino County assessor's office, 373 of the 941 single-family homes in Mission Crest — nearly 40% — have been foreclosed on. Thirty-five have gone through foreclosure more than once. Properties that once sold for nearly $400,000 are worth less than $200,000.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-mission-crest-part-one-20100627,0,7309065.story

[SoCalDem]

1. Put them on the market for $85 K @4% and you'll see them all filled.. That's what they are "worth

First time home-buyers cannot afford high house payments..no surprise there. These homes in Hesperia & Victorville are first-timer homes for the most part. People moved there and made horrendous commutes because they were chasing cheap housing, and as that cheap housing got expensive, their incomes could not keep up.. It's simple math.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. There was a saying in the mortgage industry during the boom

"Drive until you qualify" which is why there are so many of these strange subdivisions in the middle of literally nowhere. My husband and I refer to them as "Plopsburgs" because it looks like a spaceship came and plopped them down in the middle of the night.