A bunch of houses selling on the same street (north of Portola Springs)

csw

New member
Hi,
A new member here. We are thinking about moving to Irvine and really like north side of Portola Springs neighborhood. Not a lot of available houses now, except one street: there are 5 houses for sales (including one sold couple weeks ago). I understand there are different reasons to sell but it's just a bit suspicious especially these houses were built in 2013. Any advice I might be able to get more info other than asking the sellers?

Thanks in advance.
 

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Happenstance.

Different realtors. Some have been off/on/off/on the market while others are fresh listings. As a buyer its great because you can pit seller against seller for a better price. After carry costs and cost of sale, most of these sellers are breaking even, unheard of for Irvine area properties, no?

I'd suggest saying "Hi" to some owners who aren't selling to get a sense of the neighborhood before buying.

My .02c
 
I think they aren't selling, because in many cases the prices aren't there. The way the street was, there was only like two streets (IIRC), so if someone were to put up a home, it would basically be on the same street.  The floorplans were relatively nice, lots small.  At one point Taylor Morrison had dropped the prices pretty drastically and that got everything moving, but they will probably struggle at he prices they are at (that said, people who sell, should still make money...it seems more like to me they are trying to capitalize / maximize their gains and more putting it on the market to say what the hell, maybe someone will pay me and I can move).

Or maybe they got there and they decided they don't like portola springs, who knows. 
 
I almost bought one of these in early 2014, in fact USC signed me in at the sales office there... My wife liked the plan 1 with loft and the layout was good but a few things turned us off about the community.

1) Though it's only a few min from Irvine Blvd, going all the way up the hill,to get to these homes made the area feel too remote.  I actually like PS for its remoteness but this felt like the most remote area of an already remote village / if that makes sense.

2) Have you driven on or by these streets?  Everything feels super cramped together and the streets are narrow as-is.  There's almost no street parking at night and it narrows the road even more making the entire place feel like a condo community.

3) Lots are small but that doesn't seem to bother most Irvine residents so it's probably not that.

That being said, actually seems like a good value here as far as $ / sq ft. When they were selling, they had a standing inventory Plan 1 we wanted.  Was listed for $1.05M and they were anxious to accept any offer, called me multiple times and pretty much said if I could offer high 900's they would seriously consider it (which probably means they would take it).  In the end we decided against even making an offer as this was a flag lot and didn't like the overall feel of the neighborhood, but we both still like the layout of these homes.
 
I agree it's not bad of a home and it's a good value if one can overcome the negatives mentioned above.

Another thing going against these sales is that there are a lot of good alternative in the market right now.  Cressa for example, would be a good alternative to the Quinterra.  Around the same price range, also in the PS but in a more ascessable location. 
 
IMO too many options in the area at this price range.  Similarly priced homes on the older side of PS between Arrowhead and Ridge Valley are also on the market for long periods.  A buyer looking in the low to mid $1MM range also has a lot of new inventory to choose from, esp in the Great Park.  Lambert Ranch is the only community in the area that is selling well despite the abundance of options.  Must be the lack of MR and the guard gate. 
 
Speaking of LR, these quinterra homes are below the higher elevation LR section and nestled in between the 241 ridge.

Probably can wheel and deal to have a great value home if you like the secluded part of town
 
Thanks for all your replies. It really helps me to understand the background of the neighborhood and it also explains why those houses stay in the market longer. But it's really weird that these relatively new houses have such a high turnover rate. Unlike pure investor house, you can tell some of them put pretty decent work inside out.

By the way, I thought 241 is less busy compare with 133, 5, 405 or even Jamboree. I have hard time to find places in Irvine without freeway impacts.
 
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Go to google earth and look at the dump adjacent to the toll road. There is a retention basin that collect all the run off from the dump. These water are trash gravy waiting to leach into the soil in that retention basin. The leaching process allows the water to permeate and spread under the earth. Unfortunately Catalonia is at the lower elevation just on the other side of the toll road where the water must exit. The water has a rotten sulfurous stink to it percolating out of the earth. The google earth image depicted an alarming adjacency of built homes next to a trash dump where no where else in the US allows such a proximity.

Look at the original posting map you will see the color blue on the trash gravy pool just on the other side of the toll road. The sellers are not required to disclosed foul water oozing out because no one claims to have seen it or smelled it. The homes with some exposed slope at the rear yard are likely subjects to these conditions.

A cluster sale is a legitimate concern of a hidden underlining problem. It's wise for posters to bring it to this board for for analysis. PS in general is below the dump elevations and avoid the toll road adjacency near by the retention basin. Lots farther away and at a higher elevation are better. As I recalled the La Ventana project was at the worst spot at the lowest elevation of PS.

 
irvinehomeshopper said:
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IMG_0249_zpsl6le2wdg.png



Go to google earth and look at the dump adjacent to the toll road. There is a retention basin that collect all the run off from the dump. These water are trash gravy waiting to leach into the soil in that retention basin. The leaching process allows the water to permeate and spread under the earth. Unfortunately Catalonia is at the lower elevation just on the other side of the toll road where the water must exit. The water has a rotten sulfurous stink to it percolating out of the earth. The google earth image depicted an alarming adjacency of built homes next to a trash dump where no where else in the US allows such a proximity.

Look at the original posting map you will see the color blue on the trash gravy pool just on the other side of the toll road. The sellers are not required to disclosed foul water oozing out because no one claims to have seen it or smelled it. The homes with some exposed slope at the rear yard are likely subjects to these conditions.

A cluster sale is a legitimate concern of a hidden underlining problem. It's wise for posters to bring it to this board for for analysis. PS in general is below the dump elevations and avoid the toll road adjacency near by the retention basin. Lots farther away and at a higher elevation are better. As I recalled the La Ventana project was at the worst spot at the lowest elevation of PS.

If what you are saying is correct, then Harrison in Lambert Ranch would be a street to avoid as it sits lower than Catalonia.
 
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