Legado at Portola Springs III

Definitely get Cressa, you'll be thankful for the secluded driveway and additional privacy.  If you think Legado is a mini La Vida, think again.
 
I was surprised of how nice the Legado turned out.  Felt like a mini La Vita style home that is so much more affordable.  It seemed the homes did very well with the utilization of the size.  The master bedroom and bath were nicely appointed.  Since I am looking for a SFR, I would not be buying in here.  I do like the motorcourt on this, in a way if someone wanted to vandalize your home, they would have to watch out for 4 more neighbors.  So it is secluded in that perspective.  What is nice about these condos is that you do get your own driveway which most condos do not have.

It seems every condo have a yard as well.  So it is really no compromises.
 
I agree, saw Legado yesterday and the #3 and #4 entries were not good. Especially #3, walking around the stairs to get to the living room.

ps9 said:
I like a high ceiling entrance effect with 19-20 ft ceilings, 2nd will be a wide foyer/hallway.

Entry into a kitchen/great room/dining room without buffers is weird...worst is entry into a wall with a low ceiling.
 
I saw these on Saturday and I couldn't stand them. Felt way smaller than the actual square footage listed. 
 
I saw Legado on Saturday morning and had to go again late afternoon because my spouse was working on that day.

Legado had a large crowd in the morning. I would say "well mixed" compared to other grand openings, but still majority was Chinese group.  It was amazing how the 2nd visit in the afternoon made me see these plans in different perspective with less folks, no loud music, no festive environment, sunset lighting...  I'm sure for a lot of other folks, Legado would be great, but I have to say I lost the initial positive impression once I start seeing and thinking beyond added options, nice smiles, and new home feels...  I'll just leave it there.

I have to say Brookfield's staff are the most pleasant, personable, and professional real estate folks I've dealt with.  For the layout and plans, my wife and I were thinking it would've been awesome if there was a plan 2 first floor with plan 3 second floor.  Or Plan 3 didn't open to a wall...  Or Plan 4 had little bigger patio...    I mean it wasn't quite 100% right to us.

The starting price is lower and seem better but their first phase is right "below" Portola Springs Road.  It wasn't clear if they were going to erect brick walls (don't know if that make sense since the street is 10s of feet higher in elevation).  Also the model homes had, as usual, a lot of upgrades and talking to each plan's designer separately, the average upgrade was about $150k ~ $180k so plan 1 being $800k will become nearly $950k if you add the same options and plan 4 will be well above $1 million.  Also as the phases go on, base price will rise, some sites will have premium lot...  you know how it goes... 

I'm thinking at best, it could be Ellwood of PS III, but even with drive way, we weren't impressed with motor court feeling at $900k ~ $1 million price tag. 

Other very minor points... unless they build a passage or walk way to Modjeska and Portola Spring from Legado sites, you have to walk a long way around to the future elementary school it seems like.  Also it doesn't look like Portola Springs will be a big through streets with a lot of traffic.  Portola Pkwy is connected to 241...

Just my two cents...
 
Bullsback said:
I saw these on Saturday and I couldn't stand them. Felt way smaller than the actual square footage listed.

I have to agree with you.  High 9 ft ceiling kinda makes up for it but 2000 sq ft plus, I don't think.  Plan 1 and Plan 2 had master bathrooms with ballroom dance floor.. for what I don't know.  Portola homes with drive ways move the garage right in the center of the home so often you have awkward entry or a lot of dead space hall way.  Also Plan 2 had tiny tiny closets for secondary rooms.  They are aiming for young family with infants I guess...

Still better than some new homes lately at this price range and every plan has full bed/bath down stairs...  I did some calculation and for re-sale, for $920k home, I can get similar monthly payment as plan 1 or 2 depending on tax rates and HOA.  I mean $920k is crazy high for me but this tells me new homes have a lot more extra expenses for possibly higher potential in price increase in the future...
 
I don't write a lot in the forum but I though it was little strange to have no posts on Legado thread for full 24 hours especially since they just had a grand opening...  Is everyone busy signing papers at the sales office or the interest on Legado not as hot as Eastwood or other places???
 
I am thinking of buying Residence 1 - the $/sqft comes out to be $387 which is way lower than what other houses including at Eastwood are being offered at.

At this price point, don't you think this is a steal? Is there something wrong that I am missing here?
 
amemon said:
I am thinking of buying Residence 1 - the $/sqft comes out to be $387 which is way lower than what other houses including at Eastwood are being offered at.

At this price point, don't you think this is a steal? Is there something wrong that I am missing here?
If by "steal" you mean you are getting more house than you can at EW, yes, it is a steal.  If by "steal" you mean Portola Springs is giving you more than what you are paying for, Portola Springs is definitely NOT a "steal."

At the time Portola Springs and Woodbury opened in 2006, Portola Springs was much cheaper than Woodbury.  Some very smart people on this board believed at that time that in the future, Portola Springs prices would catch up with Woodbury.  It didn't.  This despite the fact Woodbury is much more dense than Portola Springs and even has lots of affordable housing within the village.  Over a decade later, Portola Springs is still much cheaper than Woodbury.  Portola Springs is also cheaper than every village that has come after Woodbury.  Portola Springs is a great place to live, but it's no bargain.
 
Looks like Legado Release 1 (total 6 houses) is all sold out. Heard the pre-qualified waiting list based on time-stamp to purchase the release is between 30-40.
 
Sounds reasonable, not exactly familiar with traffic flow for area (ie. elementary school, PS thru, Toll road traffic, Irvine Blvd) but the prices seem reasonable, get your own driveway, nice piazza court for kids to play in, yards are fine.  Wife and I liked them, at this point much more so than eastwood and to my surprise Cressa. 
 
Here is my information:

1. Phase 1 sold out for all 6 pizza homes.
2. Phase 2 is actually being built earlier than phase 1 and we could see their base and wood frame from model home. Phase 2 will be finished in June or July while phase 1 will be 2 to 3 months later than that.
3. Price of phase 2 will be significantly higher than phase 1 since more design upgrades will be included into phase 2 homes. Well maybe i cannot say "significantly", I personally guess will be around 3%-5% higher. (Phase 1 mainly is home base price plus structure option and they allow first group of buyers to customize their home.)
4. Phase 2 will be released in 2 weeks.
5. Mostly likely, phase 3 will be premium locations with larger backyards.


BTW, Cressa also has all phase 1  homes sold or reserved





LongIrvine said:
Sounds reasonable, not exactly familiar with traffic flow for area (ie. elementary school, PS thru, Toll road traffic, Irvine Blvd) but the prices seem reasonable, get your own driveway, nice piazza court for kids to play in, yards are fine.  Wife and I liked them, at this point much more so than eastwood and to my surprise Cressa.
 
I see some discussion in Cressa thread but no this Legado.  Is everyone waiting for the next phase to come out or the interest in PS III dying out because of toxic issues and other rumors?  Columbus Grove was in the same situation many years ago but eventually they all got sold out and the price came back up.

I guess the big difference is that Columbus Grove was more convenient location overall than PSIII and had many large houses with actual driveways and backyard...
 
For those who are interested in Legado, are you waiting for a larger lot sites?  Would you buy any of those even thought they back main streets and also the move in date may be way out in 2017?  Just curious...
 
irvineorbust said:
I see some discussion in Cressa thread but no this Legado.  Is everyone waiting for the next phase to come out or the interest in PS III dying out because of toxic issues and other rumors?  Columbus Grove was in the same situation many years ago but eventually they all got sold out and the price came back up.

I guess the big difference is that Columbus Grove was more convenient location overall than PSIII and had many large houses with actual driveways and backyard...

What rumors are you talking about?
 
irvineorbust said:
I see some discussion in Cressa thread but no this Legado.  Is everyone waiting for the next phase to come out or the interest in PS III dying out because of toxic issues and other rumors?  Columbus Grove was in the same situation many years ago but eventually they all got sold out and the price came back up.

I guess the big difference is that Columbus Grove was more convenient location overall than PSIII and had many large houses with actual driveways and backyard...
I don't know what rumors you are talking about. I think it probably has to do with the fact that you just have had phase I. I haven't seen a ton of discussion in the Eastwood threads either. Reality is, it will take a few phases until you have a chunk of buyers, and if some of those buyers are actually TIers than you will see those threads pick up (hence Strada, which has gotten tons of activity because quite a few members here ended up buying).

In terms of land, I don't know why PSIII would be "toxic" land. Theoretically it should be on some of the cleaner land in the grand scheme of things (being elevated helps).  It is certainly away from the toxic plume and the plume isn't going to go uphlil.  I suppose there could be concerns over potential cemetery or the fact that the neighborhood is a bit more dense. 

But I generally like PS and I like the idea of having a little extra money in my pocket (vs. the other areas).  But I'm a cheapo. 
 
Aren't there former housing and barracks right next to PSIII, doubt they would've dumped stuff right next to where they'd be living
 
Back
Top