OC ‘Housewife’ Alexis Bellino Dodges Default

Everyone has taken a hit in the Great Recession.

Even the rich — and the not so rich.

Now comes word that James and Alexis Bellino, the newest cast members of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” recently defaulted on a $4.6 million loan for their home on Circle Drive in Newport Beach, Calif.

According to RealtyTrac, the couple failed to pay $83,856 on their 6-bedroom, 5-bathroom, 7,500-square foot chalet and Chase Bank scheduled an auction to the highest bidder on August 25. However, the Bellinos have worked out a loan modification with Chase, according to the Orange County Register.

Situated on a 9,135 square foot lot near Balboa Island, the Bellinos purchased the two-story home at the height of the real estate bubble in August 2007 for $4.56 million. A year later, as the real estate market collapsed, the Bellinos tried to sell the property for $7.9 million, unsuccessfully.

With no buyers in sight, they kept chopping the price down until it reached $5.7 million in October 2009, when they finally decided to take it off the market.

Apparently, Bravo’s housewives have one thing in common: they’re financially illiterate.

For example, former Playboy Playmate Jeana Keough got a loan modification to avoid foreclosure on her Coto de Caza palace. Another of the housewife cougars, Tamra Barney, unloaded her upside down OC home in a short sale.

It appears that east coast housewives are no smarter financially than their western cousins. Teresa Giudice, one of the cast members of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, filed for bankruptcy and is auctioning her 10,000 square-foot New Jersey mansion in October, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s some advice for the housewives: If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it!