Squatters, green spray paint: the 15% (foreclosure) solution in Temecula

Today's L.A. Times tackles the foreclosure problem in Temecula, with this eye-opener: City official Rich Johnston tells Scott Gold "... as many as 15% of Temecula's 22,500 single-family homes are bank-owned or in some stage of foreclosure."

Highlights and low-lights:
--A partial survey of one-quarter of the city has identified 200 vacant homes.
--Inspectors have found squatters in some vacant houses and pot growing behind one.
--Reports of "green pools" ("almost guaranteed to breed mosquitoes") are running 45% ahead of levels a year ago.
--Local real estate agent Gary Lupo says homes in the area could lose 80% of the gains in value made since 2001.
--Neighbors have begun using green spray paint to disguise browned-out lawns at foreclosed houses.

Analysis:  Yes, it's relatively upscale, but Temecula is the kind of out-there suburban boom town that is at risk in this downturn. The population has nearly doubled, from 57,000 in 2000 to 101,000 today. That's a lot of growth built in part on shaky assumptions: cheap gas, cheap credit, plentiful jobs, rising real estate values, and the biggest and shakiest assumption of all: physical growth built on the expectation of future economic growth. Watch out below.

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Inland Empire]

Temecula is full of Orange County people with the "look at me" attitude. They wanted new houses but not at OC price tags. Tough.

[adoptivefather]

The biggest shaky assumption was CHEAP GAS. Oil is up over $8/bbl today alone.

Americans have failed to recognize the concept of limited resources and we are now going to suffer mightily for our failures.

Lets see.......US added over 80,000 refugees in 1999. Multiply 80,000 times 27 barrels per capita each American uses and you get over 2 million barrels of NEW and PERMANENT oil supply required each year to support them.

Did anybody do the oil deal for those barrels??? What about oil supply for all the other refugees???



Factories Turn to Refugee Workers
After Government Crackdown,
A Texas Town Taps Burmese
By MIRIAM JORDAN
June 6, 2008; Page A1

CACTUS, Texas -- Eighteen months ago, a federal roundup of hundreds of undocumented Latino workers nearly crippled a giant JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant here. Today, the slaughterhouse is on the rebound, thanks to an unexpected influx of refugees from Myanmar.
Since January, the Swift plant has hired more than 200 workers from the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma. Most of the new legal hands came from a large refugee population that had been resettled in Houston, 12 hours away by car. The typical pay: $12.15 an hour, or more than double the state's minimum wage.
MORE

Chart: Where recent refugees settledA growing crackdown on illegal immigration has put some labor-intensive sectors of the U.S. economy in a bind. Throughout the 1990s, companies tapped workers by the hundreds of thousands from Mexico, Guatemala and other points south of the border. But lately, illegal crews have been the target of federal immigration authorities.
In fiscal 2007, arrests at factories and plants jumped to more than 4,000 people, a 10-fold increase over 2002. Last month, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency mounted its biggest raid of the year when it arrested nearly 400 Hispanic workers at Agriprocessors Inc., a large kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa. No company officials have been charged.

[Jackie Romulo]

My parents have a house in Temecula and they have told me that in their "newer master-planned community", there are a lot of houses for rent, and for sale, with many being empty already. It's like it was when they first bought the house 4 years ago, empty and quiet.

[Laker]

If you look on the deadbolt lock, you will see this house had a nice lock (gray anodized finish color) and my guess is that the previous owner (loan owner) did not leave or jingle mail his keys. So the bank called locksmith to break it and install a cheap dead bolt lock with standard color.
the cheap bank cannot afford to install same quality/type of lock???

"Local real estate agent Gary Lupo says homes in the area could lose 80% of the gains in value made since 2001..:"
This Lupo Realtor is actually in the right direction. Many areas like temecula, riverside, parris, are not selling for 2002 prices and the floor is not even close....There are a lot of buyers that can buy there but why would they? No jobs, expensive gas...smart speculators will not buy because they know prices are still getting better by the minute....and the supply of homes in these areas is huge. How are they going to sell all these houses????
Penny (literally) on the dollar is the only solution.

[Rainman]

I went to Temecula for a job interview in early 2001 and asked the guy showing me around town where everyone worked. "The lucky ones work in Riverside, which is 45 minutes away," he said. The others either worked in Orange County or San Diego. When gas costs $4.50 a gallon, that doesn't make sense. This is one of the main reasons to justify Pete's fixation on gas prices. When no one wants to spend all of his or her money buying gas to commute 50 miles to work, the places like Temecula start to wither and real estate values plunge.

[BottomFisher]

Temecula's fate now is a much bigger repeat of the early 90's recession. I guess in the early 2000's people ignored history and bought into the greed of the bubble. Builders will build anywhere to make a buck, but people are stupid to buy into their 'build it & they will come'. So will we see banks now offering 1 year free gas cards to buy one of these stucco box losers? How about a free oil well in the back yard? Bahahahahahahahaha

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

They are talking about stimulating the economy again. I am not so sure. I mean, if there is no movement, keep popping one Viagra after another, you eventually will cause great harm to your body.

[anton chigurh]

I wonder if the bank removed the original lock with a captive bolt pistol.

[Astera]

The article about foreclosures in Temecula said that Temecula was sold as a "new Napa Valley." Well, I have family in the Napa Valley, and let me tell you, Temecula is no Napa Valley. For one, the city of Napa and the nearby city of Vallejo actually have available jobs that people don't have to drive 45 miles to get to. For another, Napa Valley actually makes GOOD wine.

[sfvrealestate]

Peter, your observation is very astute. So, what do you think is the solution? Or partial solution?

[D]

MyLessThanPrimeBeef

you're not funny, you never have been. Please...Stop.

[Uncle Billy Climbs Mont Pelerin]

D: He's our MLTPB, and he ranges from silly to very very funny. He's a value add (wow... I just assumed he was a he). Could be that you have sustained some damage to your right parahippocampal gyrus. See a neurosurgeon right away!

Now if you don't have anything nice to say... even about areas that outlie los angeles, don't say anything at all.

[homeownerandhappy]

Uncle Billy Climbs Mont Pelerin

Your not funny either

[Uncle Billy Climbs Mont Pelerin]

Unhappyhomeowner: "You're"

Now please go climb back under that rock and strap yourself in. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

[sheila]

ok, i know we're not supposed to feed the trolls, but is it possible that "adoptivefather" is actually blaming a few refugees from war-torn scary places for the problems in the Temecula housing market and for the 6-fold increase in oil prices (and profits) since the invasion of iraq - the war that will pay for itself? really?

good lord, man, get a grip! even if your insanity were remotely relevant, it is hardly necessary to subject innocent human beings to more torture, gang rape, maiming and enslavement so the good people of Temecula can have another few wine and cheese nights before their foreclosures and all the white trash in their Hummer limos can waddle down the sunset strip for under $50 per gawk.

here's a little hint: when you see evil and corruption, look UP the food chain, not down, for the source.

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

"Anytime you're feeling lonely" (sorry, wrong blog)

Take 2: Anytime you purchase a product or service
with a Made in China/India etc. tag on it, you are feeding
the need for energy consumption in those countries.
Thus, oil traders have more world customers in demand
for the energy that once was abundant to America.
Simple Econ 101: The more the demand, the more expensive the supply. When they said "oil for the lamps of China," they were a little ahead of themselves; but,
they were dead on target...they just weren't aware of
it on those whaling ships.
Another twist on this: everytime you purchase a product/service with the Made in China/India etc. tag on it, you are making it possible for some family in China/India, etc. to remain in China/India etc.
So, its a two edged sword.
$5/gallon: its the price we pay for improved air and
elbow room.
(political perspective withstanding)

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

And Shelia, where do you see yourself on this
food chain?

[homeownerandhappy]

Uncle Billy Climbs Mont Pelerin

You can spell but YOU'RE still not funny!

:D

[Roger Ramjet]

Hold on to your butt kids. Here is what's comming! $8.00 a gallon gas and $1500 to $5000 an oz. gold. And you thought buying a house was a symbol of status and "look-at-me". Glad your choking. Sell the SUV, BMW, Lexus. Do a jingle mail and start over loser! Got that upside down feeling, big shot..

[Roger Ramjet]

Hold on to your butt kids. Here is what's comming! $8.00 a gallon gas and $1500 to $5000 an oz. gold. And you thought buying a house was a symbol of status and "look-at-me". Glad your choking. Sell the SUV, BMW, Lexus. Do a jingle mail and start over loser! Got that upside down feeling, big shot..

[Get a Clue]

Have any of you even been to Temecula? I love how you sit in your homes and act like where you live is so much better. People in LA and Orange counties are so much more image conscience, it's sad. The only difference is, you paid twice as muc for your homes.