Camped out for home

Danette Goulet

Hopeful Huntington Beach residents have been camping out for the

prospect of buying homes worth upward of $650,000 in the country’s

hottest real estate market during the past two weeks.

Families slept in their cars -- SUVs, Lexuses, BMWs -- last week in

hopes of getting on a list to buy one of the homes under construction at

Goldenwest Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

Orange County is currently the hottest place to buy according to the

Meyers Group of Irvine, which publishes a quarterly report on the market.

Many are vying for the homes planned for the developments a mere 0.3

miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Location is the key, said Clarissa Euyoque, of Mission Viejo, among

those who camped in their cars, trying to get into the Lighthouse

development.

“It’s 0.3 miles from the beach and there’s not much open space for new

homes left in Huntington,” she said.

People began arriving at Christopher Homes management office on the

construction sight last Tuesday to drop off pre-qualifying applications

for the Lighthouse section of the project, even though the company wasn’t

planning on accepting them until Friday.

“I’ve been here since 7 a.m.,” said Diane Lee, a prospective buyer of

one of the 17 homes in the first phase of the project Thursday night.

“Some people have been here since Tuesday. I’m 39 on the Lighthouse list

and six on the Shoreline list -- the pricing of those will be announced

tomorrow.”

Shoreline is a second, more expensive group of homes.

Applicants for the Shoreline property arrived in front of the office

last week with the intention of staying out until Friday -- more than a

week away -- just to be at the top of the list.

“We’ve been here since early this morning and we’re going to stay

until next Friday,” said Lori Schlegel, a Seagate resident, on Thursday.

Although the company assured residents that there was no need to be

there overnight for a week, many were taking no chances.

“They say you don’t have to camp out, but I think as it gets close

you’ll see people overnight again,” said Alan Attardo, a Seagate neighbor

of Schlegel who is taking turns watching their spot in line.

Attardo and others hoping for a Shoreline home, priced just under a

million dollars, have been out at the construction site in shifts for

more than a week.

“I’ve had my van parked there all week,” Attardo said Wednesday. “I

have my awning out. Since no one showed up last night we went home and

went back out at 6 a.m. and someone was already there.”

But Attardo said it is not a burden camping out, in fact they see it

as a positive thing.

“I told my wife to hurry out there this morning,” he said. “It’s a

social thing you get to know your new neighbors.”