The Four C’s of Buying A Home In Marin County

If you’ve ever bought a wedding ring, or ever heard ads for the Shane Company on the radio, you’ve probably heard about the Four C’s of buying a diamond: Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat weight.

Bet you didn’t know there’s four C’s to buying a home in Marin County, did you? This is a unique place to buy property, and here are the four C’s:

1. Cost
2. Commute
3. Climate
4. Community

This will be the first part of four, each talking about one of the four C’s.

Cost

It’s pretty obvious that this should be the first one, but it’s not as simple as it first may seem. Cost can vary widely from town to town, and there often isn’t an apparent reason why.  When looking at homes in Marin, it’s important for you to understand why those costs are different before you put down your life savings.

I just pulled cost per square foot of housing sold for the last 90 days in three communities, and came up with three very different numbers:

Mill Valley:         $618
Corte Madera:   $574
Fairfax:            $459

All three of these communities are within a 25 minute drive of each other, have good schools, and also have lots of in-town amenities, like shopping, restaurants, and parks. Yet based on these prices, a 2000 square foot home in Fairfax would be $918,000, and the same house in Mill Valley would be $1,236,000. Why?

Part of the answer lies in the one of the other C’s - in this case, commute time. It takes a lot longer to get to San Francisco at rush hour from Fairfax than it does Mill Valley. So if you’re working in Sonoma, or Novato, maybe Fairfax is a great option to get that small town feel without paying big-time prices!

Even more complex is that within these communities, prices will vary widely. For example, Mill Valley is a very large area, and there are actually three different valleys there. Each has a number of differences that drive different prices. In Corte Madera, homes on the West side of the highway typically command higher prices than those on the Bay side of the Highway. In Larkspur, certain parts of Palm Hill are more desirable, and pricier, than others. The list goes on….

The marketplace creates prices for a reason. It’s not an accident. Taking the time to understand what drives those differences in price will help you make the best decision for you and your family about where to live, because you’ll know exactly what tradeoffs you’re making when you purchase a home.

And in case you’re wondering - we’d be happy to share our thoughts with you on why! Contact us at bravasio@fhallen.com.
Next: Part 2, Commute

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