1365 Portola Drive Before
Having sold for $1,325,000 in 2002, the Saint Francis Woods border home at 1365 Portola Drive was foreclosed upon in 2010 with $1,795,000 in mortgage debt and re-sold for $1,180,000 in 2011. Having since been refaced and renovated, the four-bedroom home is now back on the market and listed for $1,998,000.
1365 Portola Drive 2012
One of the four full baths before the renovation:


1365 Portola Drive Bath Before
One of the five full baths after:
1365 Portola Drive Bath After
∙ Listing: 1365 Portola Drive (4/5) 3,000 sqft – $1,998,000 [1365portola.com]
1365 Portola Drive: An Apple In The St. Francis Wood Of Trees [SocketSite]
Apples-To-Apples-To-Debt 1365 Portola Falls Down [SocketSite]

16 thoughts on “Refaced, Renovated And Returned To The Market On Portola”
  1. Nice. Looks much better than before.
    Out of curiosity, can the homeowner along this busy street be able to put up a security gate along its driveway?

  2. i would never pay close to $2M for that area. ‘interesting’ choice of finishes grouped together.meh.

  3. The new homeowner better like gray! The kitchen is surprisingly small and kind of dark for such a big house though…as a kitchen is usually the center of the home for this kind of home (four-five bedrooms), that could be a miscalculation. The master closet looks bigger than the kitchen! Otherwise, pretty nicely done.
    At least there is enough driveway to not have to back into traffic. Portola does quiet down in the evenings.
    Still, at this address, who is the target buyer? A family that really wants to be close to West Portal and its Muni and likes the house itself a lot? Maybe they aren’t home during the day a lot? Or they’re a family of rock drummers and want to be able to go all out?

  4. how much does a renovated house of this size in st frances woods go for if not on a busy street?
    if the price difference is signifigant someone will buy it

  5. I like the remodel. Obviously a little gray, but it’s a neutral color and offers a simple pallette for those who want to self-actualize.

  6. “The new homeowner better like gray!”
    … especially since that’s the eventual color of the exterior wood after a few seasons.
    ——————-
    I agree with Mikey that there doesn’t seem to be much of a profit margin here. Even though this is a superficial remod that’s a big house and there were a lot of surfaces to upgrade. Maybe the seller expects overbids.

  7. @mikey, they probably will come out with a few hundred thousand dollars before taxes.
    The holding / trading costs would likely come in somewhere around $200,000:
    Sale Commission about $100,000 assuming 5%
    Interest expense would come in about $50,000
    Transfer tax about $15,000
    Property tax about $15,000
    Other misc. closing costs could come in as much as $30,000 (but probably less).
    It was built in 1978, so probably not too much structural work.
    A sale at asking would be a profit of $800,000 minus the $200K would leave $600,000 to play with.
    It really comes down to what they spent on the remodel.Assuming there wasn’t any significant structural, electrical, or plumbing remediation needed they could very likely keep their construction costs under $300,000, meaning a taxable profit of around $300K. The $200K holding/ transfer costs are also tax deductible, so they would probably pocket somewhere around $250K, assuming a sale at asking.
    $250K profit is not too bad for a little over a year’s work.

  8. Keeping construction costs for a 4 bdrm/5 bath and exterior/stairs, yard, driveway, permit fees etc. under 300k is pretty optimistic IMO

  9. Why? They didn’t add any square footage as far as I can tell. The did appear to create one additional bathrooms, probably $20-30K (although could be done for quite a bit less), Kitchen probably $50-$100K (From the pictures I would bet closer to the lower end of that range, the kitchen is small and it looks like they even re-used some of the existing appliances). Remodeled 4 Existing baths, probably $15K each on average.
    Those are the expensive parts, so about $130K on the low end, $190K on the high, with the reality probably somewhere in the middle.
    That leaves somewhere between $110K and $170K to finish the rest. Assuming that there were no major structural issues (which seems a reasonable assumption based on the photos from the previous listing). They didn’t appear to move walls, or even need to update the windows.
    That amount of money goes a long way for mainly cosmetic changes.

  10. @lyqwyd Theres a lot more you havent even started to factor in, and you numbers are on the low end for the bathrooms…. floors, windows, garage door, a lot of concreate, railings, tile back yard, landscaping, and I highly doubt systems weren’t updated at all

  11. The floors and windows do not appear to be changed, at most the floors were refinished (check the pictures from the previous sale). $30K goes a long way in a bathroom, and it’s not as if they did any extensive tile work, and the vanity is only the counter-top, it’s nice, but having no cabinetry will save some nice money. The retaining wall appeared to be in fine condition, so was probably only refinished. The entry stairs were definitely redone. The landscaping was pretty minimal, some masonry (no grouting though, which saves time and materials), minimal planting and mulch, although they did put in an attractive fence… certainly over $10K, but I’d be shocked if it was over $20K.
    Why would they update the systems in a 1978 house? Maybe the heating if it hadn’t already been done, definitely not the electrical or plumbing other than what was required for the bathroom addition and kitchen reconfiguration. Aside from that there’d be no point.
    Personally I think I’m being generous on some of the numbers. I’m certain the stove and hood were already present, and they don’t even have a refrigerator in the kitchen. The kitchen is nice enough, but it’s small.
    I just completed a bigger, nicer kitchen remodel, with more cabinetry, a full suite of high end appliances, new electrical, lighting and plumbing, and kept it just at $50K. I used a general contractor, didn’t negotiate the prices, and had no experience with construction prior.
    I’m pretty confident that they could have kept it under $300K, but hey, say I’m off by $100K, it’s still $200K profit before taxes, for a little over a year. After tax it should

  12. I’m just glad that someone cleaned up that eyesore, which has a big street presence. Anyone know what’s up with a new construction house a couple lots up the street?

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