PORTOLA HILLS LIVING by Kelly Turbeville

We have arrived at the last month of 2016! Can you believe it, man that was a fast year.  Fast is the perfect segway of how the real estate market in Portola Hills performed in November. The average days on the market for homes sold in November was just 29 days. Who would buy a house in November or this time year with all the holiday stuff going on? This is often what we hear, but as we are in South Orange County and not hampered by the snow, etc.  November is traditionally a fairly busy month in the OC for real estate.   For the county, 2419 homes sold in November that is up about 20% from 2015. For Portola Hills the number of sales was up by one property but take a look at the price increases from 2015 below. Portola Hills November 2016 Real Estate Snapshot The average price of a single family home in November 2015 $693,000 but that was for a 2284 4 bedroom home. The price per square foot was $310.  Now looking at 2016, the average home price was $624,000, but that w

When I am working with home buyers they are often surprised that Portola Hills currently has over 15 different neighborhoods.  The mix of the these neighborhoods include both single family homes detached and attached homes.  Below is a breakdown of the individual tracts: Tract Name # of Units Details Antigua 192 SFR neighborhood with 4 floorplans, featuring 3-4 bedrooms, sized from 1930-2494 sq.ft.  2-3 attached garages Alderwood 185 SFR neighborhood with 5 floorplans featuring 2-4 bedrooms, sized from 1138-2050 sq.ft. 2 car attached garages Canyon Rim 108 Townhome complex features 4 floorplans with 2-3 bedrooms sized from 969-1378 sq.ft. 2 Car attached garages Canyon View 225 Townhome complex featuring 2 floorplans, 2 bedrooms, sized from 873-1038sq.ft. 1 car garage attached/detached Canyon View West 84 Townhome complex featuring 2 floorplans, 2 bedrooms, size

Do you want to have input on the planning of the new 5-Acre park as part of the Portola Center and Portola Hills Community?  Mark your calendar for June 3rd at 6:30pm-8:30pm and you can have input on the overall design and amenities for the future of Portola Park.    The proposed park site will be located on the south side of Glenn Ranch Road near the Saddleback Ranch Road Intersection.   Workshop will be held at the Lake Forest City Hall at 25550 Commercentre Drive, Lake Forest Ca. Concourse Park Portola Hills Hope to see you there!!

We are really excited about this event planned for June 13th at 10:30 am- 12:00 pm.   This community event sponsored by Kelly Turbeville is designed to help residents of Portola Hills understand the new California Drought Regulations and to provide suggestions on water saving ideas, landscaping and the possibility of getting rebates from Irvine Ranch Water District. In addition, we will have a representative from the new Portola Center Development come and share with residents upcoming landscaping plans they have for the new community. Local contractors, landscapers are also welcome to have a table set up with information on their business, please contact Kelly if you would like to participate. Of course we always like to have little fun so we will some giveaways for residents who attend.  If you are interesting in attending please contact Kelly to reserve your spot.  Space is limited.

Thought those of you who live in Portola Hills II HOA section might be interested in some highlights from the HOA meeting on 8/10. I decided to attend for two reasons: one a presentation from the city of Lake Forest was to address the communities traffic concerns with the upcoming Portola Center Development and two there was to be a discussion about the upcoming Special Assessment coming to homeowners for the hill sliding off of Highridge. I have to say, 1st I was really shocked with the 2 topics at hand how light the attendance was. A total of 11 attendees was there and not all homeowners.   The Lake Forest City spokesperson spoke about recent changes to Saddleback Ranch..... Did you see that little pork chop figure when you come up Saddleback Ranch and make a right onto Malabar, that is it but other than that there was no discussion about the concerns regarding Portola Center. In addition, he spoke about the the Alton completion with a tentative schedule of April 2012.   He a

At the recent Portola Center Meeting in Portola Hills, many questions came up regarding the agreement between the developer and Saddleback Valley Unified School and ensuring those funds were used for the improvements at Portola Hills Elementary.  Below is a note direct from Lake Forest's Planning Manager, Cheryl Kuta. Thank you for attending the Portola Hills community meeting on August 18, 2010 and listening to the City’s presentation on the history of the Opportunities Study, including the Portola Center project, as well as a discussion of the City’s role in the review of the proposed plans for Portola Center. We are currently working on responses to the written questions received during the presentation, as well as a general list of Frequently Asked Questions that will be made available on the City’s website. Our goal is to maintain an open and productive dialog with the community throughout the review of the Portola Center project. One of the issues discussed at length at

Direct from Baldwin & Sons the Developers of the Portola Center:  The next community meeting is scheduled for August 18, 2010 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. As a result of Portola Hills Elementary School not being available during the summer, we are very appreciative of the cooperation of the Portola Hills I HOA for allowing us to use their recreation room. Their address is: 18891 Saddleback Ranch Road, Trabuco Canyon, CA 92679 We have made a request of each HOA to provide a Board representative to create a steering committee to provide input into agenda development over the next year. The formation of the steering committee is a work in progress. Until then, our thoughts for the August meeting are to provide the land use plan approved in the Opportunity Study by the City Council, an overview of the project description, and an overview of the Area Plan with a focus on those items requested to be addressed by the community. An agenda will be provided within the next several weeks. S

Friends of Portola for Responsible Planning (I guess this is a new group) is holding a community strategy meeting on Wednesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Portola Hills I clubhouse. Mark your calendars: What: Community Strategy Meeting Where: Portola Hills I Clubhouse When: Wednesday, June 16 Time: 7 p.m. Bring a notebook and a pen and be ready to offer ideas to impact this project for the better.

Last night to a "small" crowd of Portola Hills residents and the developers (Rancho Portola Investments, LLC and USA Portola Properties, LLC) gave an update of the current status of the new development coming to Portola Hills. Overall it was just a briefing that often got side tracked as it is evident residents aren't over ally happy about the new development. But whether happy or not, it is coming as the land owners have a right to develop the land they own and the city of Lake Forest is builtout. Hopefully there is truth in what the developers noted and they plan to work with the community to ensure the communities needs and concerns are met. First off, with the current economy there has no doubt been a delay but work is beginning. The prelim project has been approved by the city now the developer is working on the final approvals that will take at least 12 months, with community reviews along the way through the environmental process. That being said, ideally the cons

Hello Neighbors, Just want to make sure you are kept up to date. As you aware Portola Hills is expanding! Have you been wondering when, well looks like the ground breaking is set to begin. There will be a community meeting, Weds May 26th so make sure to mark your calenders. Click on the memo to the left for details.

Portola Hills eNews New On the Market Property Details Price Comments 18921 Canyon Hill 2 bed/1 bath/880 sq.ft. $199,000 These condo’s 19605 Agria Way 2 bed/1 bath/1015 sq.ft $250,000 Are all priced 19387 Cascade Dr . 3 bed/ 3 bath/1255 sq.ft. $352,900 Under Mkt 28465 Klondike 3 bed/3 bath/1255 sq. ft. $358,000 Investment Potential Sold Properties 29011 Canyon Ridge 2 bed/2 bath/908 sq.ft. $305,000 19826 Canyon Smt. 3 bed/2 bath/975 sq.ft. $275,000 19801 Meadow Ridge 2 bed/2 bath/940 sq.ft. $279,000

Portola Hills eNews New On the Market Property Details Price Comments 28474 Porsena Way 2 bed/2bath/940 sq.ft. 2 car attached garage $299,900 Investment Potential 28906 Canyon Hts. 3 bed/2 bath/1130 sq.ft. $299,999 28463 Klondike Dr . 3 bed/3 bath/1216 sq.ft. $355,000 28890 Canyon Hts 2 bed/2 bath/ 1087 sq.ft. $399,000 28751 Vista Santiago 3 bed/3 bath/1623 sq.ft. $579,000 Beautiful View 28541 Brookhill 4 bed/3 bath/2500 sq.ft. $735,000 19492 Jasper Hill 5 bed/3 bath/3200 sq.ft. $879,000 Sold Properties