PORTOLA HILLS LIVING by Kelly Turbeville

Did you know there are over 200 original owners here in Portola Hills.  The community was started in the late 80's so that is nearly 40+ years of equity growth for those homeowners.  Especially with the median price of the area nearing $1 million dollars.   Most of those homeowners have very low mortgages or the homes are paid off, which provides them with a wonderful opportunity to leverage their equity into other rental properties.  Perhaps the original home could become or has become their first investment property. With rising rents, right now is an excellent time to perhaps take the jump to become a landlord.   Check out these 3 Mistakes we see first time investors make in the real estate market. 1.  Not doing a cash flow analysis. 🤑 It is easy to say, oh my mortgage is this, I can rent it for that and do the math.  But it goes much deeper than that, understanding your overall cost is critical step in planning. 2.  Not working with a real estate agent. 💁‍♀️ Truth, having a R

June was a busy month in the real estate market and Portola Hills was no exception;  Just in time, before we see the market begin to shift with summer distractions no less.  Ready for this figure, homeowners who sold in June, received an over $700,000 in extra profit.   That is amount of money they received over the list price.  Unfortunately not all seller's had these results, surprisingly there were sellers who sold below market value as well.  Below is a snapshot of the how the Portola Hills real estate market finished in June.   If the home was priced right, presented well and available to see, most homeowners should have received multiple offers.  However, we did see in June a few homes sell below market and/or reduce pricing.  With the low inventory and high buyer demand this makes me wonder how strong the negotiations were.  In this market it is critical to work with an agent who's strength is in negotiations and will ensure your best interest are being looked after.  B

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

July was a pretty active month for Portola Hills Real Estate.  Below is snapshot of how the market performed. Portola Hills Sales:                 8 Attached                                    3 Bedroom / 2 Bath Average Square Feet:               1181 Average Sold Price:                  $284,000 Average Price Per Sq. Ft.          $238 Average Days on the Market:   100 Best Sold Property :  When looking at the numbers the property sold at 28366 Klondike beat the market percentages by 16%.  Yay, it just happens to be our listing and we have one happy hom seller. Description.                            3 Bed/ 2 Bath Monticedo Condo Sq. Footage                             1305 Price Per Sq. Ft.                      $256 Sold Price:                              $335,000 Days on the market:                79 Active Properties:   The month ended with 21 Active Properties, below is breakdown of current list price and description. Attached:                                2