PORTOLA HILLS LIVING by Kelly Turbeville

Here in South Orange County, we have several new communities popping up. Locally we have  Baker Ranch ,  The Oaksat Portola Hills ,  Skyridge in Mission Viejo ,  Camden Square inFoothill Ranch  just to name few.   This is good, as resale inventory is very tight.   However, it is also an area that Home Buyers often do not think they can use a Realtor to assist them with finding a home or to negotiate terms.   Buyers often will pop in as they are driving around, fall in love and then maybe contact their local agent once they decided or have placed and offer.  The problem here is it is too late.   If you have already visited the property and registered most new home complexes will think of you as their client and will not let you use a agent.   Below are some tips of why it is a good idea to use an agent when looking at new homes: 1.   The Overall Real Estate Market:   Though new home pricing is going to be typically higher than resales, understanding the market trends is k

I wrote an article earlier in the week about the Highest Priced Homes sold Year-to-Date in Lake Forest and wanted to share with my Portola Hills peeps a bit of the details.. I pulled a pretty basic search out of the MLS, homes sold over $900k in Lake Forest.  I was actually pretty surprised by the results.. Where was Foothill Ranch?   What about the homes sold around the Lake??  All good questions if you are familiar with the area...  The biggest surprise was highest share of homes sold for over $1 million were in Baker Ranch with Portola Hills coming in 2nd. Below is a look at homes sold. Lake Forest YTD Most expensive homes sold Baker Ranch is a lovely new community.  NEW is the key!  We all love to look at new homes; when you walk in you feel refreshed, inspired, wowed, etc.  Does that feeling account for a 17% increase in the price per square foot?  Obviously as this report suggest 6 of the homes sold were in Baker Ranch.  As well, overall in Orange County we find 2

Are you thinking about selling your home this spring...  Below is a quick list of issues that home sellers run into during the process.. Either over estimating or in under valuing the list price of their home. Failing to disclose material facts about their home that adversely affect desirability or value. Not properly staging their home. Not making their home easily accessible to agents to show. Starting out with an inflated asking price, not understanding the negative impact of later price adjustments. Emotionally overacting to an initial offer. Thinking that subsequent offers will be better then the first offer. Excessive conversations with the buyers and/or buyer’s agent. Letting small things in the negotiations or transaction become big things, while losing site of the bigger picture. Not using Kelly Turbeville to represent them!   Gotta have a little fun right ! I would also have to add, not strategically looking at the market and timing as to when is the best ti

Can you believe it.... we are already in the second month of 2015..  The holiday hangover is over and home buyers are anxiously waiting for spring with anticipation of new beginnings.. January home sales are typically quiet and this year was no exception.   The number of homes that sold in Portola Hills was a total of five, exactly the same for 2014.. Below is a quick look of the homes that closed escrow in Portola Hills from January 1 through the 31st, 2015. Portola Hills January 2015 Closed Sales Wondering how this compares to January 2014... take a look below.   Portola Hills January 2014 Closed Sales Did you notice the difference pricing... This is why January and early spring is always a great time to sell.  Listing inventory is low... Buyers are anxious to move now that the holidays are over and with the lower interest rates, buyers have the ability to buy more for their dollars. Inventory typically starts to increase between March and May.. so if home se

Inventory, Inventory or should we say Lack of Inventory is the buzz word in Real Estate these days.  This is no exception in both Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills.  The market ended with very few homes on the market.  Good news... though for home sellers these homes successfully closed escrow in the first month of 2013! Have you been thinking about a move.... you will want to seriously take into consideration the low inventory.. as this is going to offer a the opportunity to receive top dollar for your home.  In addition, with interest rates projected to tick up, you have actually reached the perfect storm in Real Estate.  Top Market Price, Huge Buyer Demand, resulting in Multiple Offers and allowing you to purchase a move up property at today's low interest rates. Wondering what your home is worth....simply send us a note and we will send you over a FREE Market Report or your property and the immediate neighborhood!  It's that simple!

This has been a common question I have been receiving lately from Home Buyers.... Where are all the Portola Hills homes for sale?  That's right inventory is VERY low.  However, as I was searching for a home for a buyer, I did find a little interesting tidbit, 5 Portola Hills homes currently active are listed in the wrong city. Now you might be thinking that is not a big deal, but put yourself in a home buyers seat, who is searching online at 9pm at night.... Buyers search by two main things.... Price and Location. They then drill down to neighborhoods and details such as school.   Buyers searching for homes in Portola Hills and are not going to find these properties.  So as a Home Seller you are missing out. Portola Hills Ariel View Interesting these 5 listings are all listed by out of the area real estate agents and have been on the market longer than any listing that is correctly listed on the market.  In addition there were 3 sold listings listed in the wrong city.  Wha

Wondering how the real estate market in Portola Hills faired in 2010, well here you go..... Now the question will be is how will 2011 fair?    If you are a home seller with equity and are realistic about the market homebuyers are waiting for you.  If you are a home buyer and looking for properties anything below $500k goes pretty quickly.  If you are considering a condo, make sure you are aware of the new FHA requirements.  Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like a personal free review on your home.