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Some real estate agents believe their industry, and sales agents working for builders, have done a poor job of reminding people about the financial risk of buying a house.
"Do I tell people they should buy a house to make money? Yes, I do. But I temper that by telling the buyer that it might take five to seven years to make money, and that even then nothing is guaranteed," said Frank DiLauro, a real estate agent in Mission Viejo and former president of the Saddleback Valley Board of Realtors.
"Unfortunately, I don't think every agent -- or every builder's sales agent -- reminds their buyer of that," DiLauro added.
"The disappointment we're hearing from people who bought recently is something that they got, to a certain extent, from inexperienced sales agents."
For his part, Perniciaro said he and his neighbors understand risk. Their complaint, he claims, is strictly about what he believes were false promises.
"There were commitments made, and the company isn't living up to them. Now, they're not even answering telephone calls. It's like it would be if somebody bought an expensive Mercedes and suddenly there was no service," Perniciaro said.
"I understand the real estate market and that it doesn't always go up," added Perniciaro, a naturalized US citizen who was born in Italy, "but this is just not the American way."
Maybe not, but the kind of battle going on in Trabuco Highlands is becoming a fairly common situation in Orange County.
In August, a homeowner's group in the Tustin Ranch area calling itself BREN, or Block Real Estate Nonsense, lodged complaints -- similar to those cited by Perniciaro -- against Maricopa Development, a building company headed by Carey Bren, son of Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren.
Carey Bren has denied those allegations.
And in November, residents in the Summerfield at Coto neighborhood in Coto de Caza met with representatives of their builder, Coast Cos., to complain about the firm's decision to auction 26 houses in the neighborhood.
The auction came less than six months after the first residents moved in. Prices for houses purchased at auction were, in some cases, as much as $100,000 less than prices paid earlier in the year.
"We aren't mad about the auction," Summerfield resident Wayne Hauser said. "We're angry because we don't believe the builder made an effort to get full value. We don't think they stuck it out as long as they could have."
Officials from Coast Cos. could not be reached to comment. But they previously have admitted they did not plan to hold an auction when they sold houses to Hauser and others.
"Do I tell people they should buy a house to make money? Yes, I do. But I temper that by telling the buyer that it might take five to seven years to make money, and that even then nothing is guaranteed," said Frank DiLauro, a real estate agent in Mission Viejo and former president of the Saddleback Valley Board of Realtors.
"Unfortunately, I don't think every agent -- or every builder's sales agent -- reminds their buyer of that," DiLauro added.
"The disappointment we're hearing from people who bought recently is something that they got, to a certain extent, from inexperienced sales agents."
For his part, Perniciaro said he and his neighbors understand risk. Their complaint, he claims, is strictly about what he believes were false promises.
"There were commitments made, and the company isn't living up to them. Now, they're not even answering telephone calls. It's like it would be if somebody bought an expensive Mercedes and suddenly there was no service," Perniciaro said.
"I understand the real estate market and that it doesn't always go up," added Perniciaro, a naturalized US citizen who was born in Italy, "but this is just not the American way."
Maybe not, but the kind of battle going on in Trabuco Highlands is becoming a fairly common situation in Orange County.
In August, a homeowner's group in the Tustin Ranch area calling itself BREN, or Block Real Estate Nonsense, lodged complaints -- similar to those cited by Perniciaro -- against Maricopa Development, a building company headed by Carey Bren, son of Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren.
Carey Bren has denied those allegations.
And in November, residents in the Summerfield at Coto neighborhood in Coto de Caza met with representatives of their builder, Coast Cos., to complain about the firm's decision to auction 26 houses in the neighborhood.
The auction came less than six months after the first residents moved in. Prices for houses purchased at auction were, in some cases, as much as $100,000 less than prices paid earlier in the year.
"We aren't mad about the auction," Summerfield resident Wayne Hauser said. "We're angry because we don't believe the builder made an effort to get full value. We don't think they stuck it out as long as they could have."
Officials from Coast Cos. could not be reached to comment. But they previously have admitted they did not plan to hold an auction when they sold houses to Hauser and others.
