Conventional wisdom is that April and May are the best months to put a house up for sale. Based on what's been going on in southern and central Marin in the past couple of weeks, it looks like conventional wisdom is right, for once. Here's a look at nine recent listings—including one $5.995 million San Anselmo house—that have gone into escrow after being on the market for fewer than 14 days:
BELVEDERE:
322 Beach Rd.: This seller had a deal before listing this "vintage" waterfront house for $2.69 million (3,781 sq ft, 5BR, 4 BA, no interior photos available).
GREENBRAE:
35 Corte Alegre: This four-bedroom house within walking distance to Bacich School, asking price $1.395 million (2,152 sq ft and it's on a cul de sac).
KENTFIELD:
17 Acacia Ave: Level lot, has a pool, asking price was $1.55 million (2,079 sq ft, 4BR, 3 BA).
MILL VALLEY:
123 Ricardo Rd.: Strawberry Point 3BR, 3BA, described as "executive home," asking price $1.595 million (1978 sq ft).
SAN ANSELMO:
100 Holstein Rd.: 5BR, 3.5BA on an oversized lot (28,265 sq ft), asking price was $1.05 million (2,477 sq ft).
11 Idalia Ct.: Remodeled 3BR, 2.5 BA descrived as "the epitome of San Anselmo Seminary lifestyle, asking price $1.485 million (1,962 sq ft).
109 Fawn Dr.: Tennis, anyone? Dip in the pool? This 5 BR, 6.5BA house (7,363 sq ft), asking price $5.995 million, also has a spa and yoga room.
SAN RAFAEL:
6 Dogwood Ct.: Almost new 4BR, 3BA w/cherry cabinets and granite countertops in the kitchen, asking price $1.195 million (2,856 sq ft).
11 I St.: Vintage brown shingle with 4 BR, 3BA, asking price was $1.45 million (2,194 sq ft).
Monday, May 5, 2008
In Escrow: A Flurry Of Pending Sales In Marin
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
New Listings: $1.7 Million In Southern Marin
Somebody took a finger out of the dike. More than 60 new southern Marin listings have come on the market in the past week, and here's a sampling of the kind of kitchen you can get for $1.7-$1.75 million:
279 Riviera Dr., San Rafael: $1.749 m, 4 BR, 3BA, 3,347 sq ft ($523 per sq ft)
314 Kent Ave., Kentfield: $1.7 m, 5BR, 4BA, 2,200 sq ft ($773 per sq ft)
2 Overhill Rd., Mill Valley: $1.749 m, 4BR, 3.5B, 2,515 sq ft ($695 per sq ft)
55 Buena Vista Ave., Mill Valley: $1.7495 m, 3BR, 2B, 1,800 sq ft ($972 per sq ft)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Weekend Reading: Buying a green home in Marin
Lots of things start in Northern California, then spread, trend-like, to the rest of the country. Williams Sonoma, for instance, was born in Sonoma way back in 1956 when the rest of the U.S. had yet to find frozen peas. Banana Republic (Mill Valley, 1978); Smith & Hawken (Mill Valley, 1979); and Restoration Hardware (Eureka, 1980) all debuted here. Mountain biking was invented on Mt. Tam, and the American love affairs with hot tubbing and biscotti originated here, then rolled out like hula hoops to the nation.
So it's a little surprising that the green homes movement actually started in... well, probably Colorado or Washington State. Not to worry, though: Northern California is playing catch up with a vengeance. The whole sustainable-homes thing—as exemplified in Dwell Magazine (brain child of a Mill Valley resident!)—is sweeping across Marin County like a brush fire.
Recently, we visited a pretty amazing, green, luxury home (of all things) high above San Rafael. The 5100-square-foot residence is the first of six units for sale at Live Oak Estates, an eco-friendly enclave with protected (and spectacular) views of Tam. We drove up there with Stacey Stephenson, the first Mill Valley-based real estate agent to be certified as an "EcoBroker," who filled us in on the burgeoning green real-estate scene.
"My mission is to make Marin County real estate a green industry," she said, while driving her Prius (what else?) up the 101 (we qualified for the carpool lane) to San Rafael.
An "EcoBroker" is a graduate of the Built Green course, a Colorado-based program that "encourages homebuilders to use technologies, products, and practices that provide greater energy efficiency and reduce pollution, provide healthier indoor air, reduce water usage, preserve natural resources, and improve durability and reduce maintenance."
Stacey is the first of five brokers certified and practicing in Marin. Business is brisk as increasingly, home buyers are starting to think about sustainability and protecting the environment. "More and more, clients are finding me on Google after they do a keyword search on 'healthy homes,'" she said.
Stacey carries a checklist so she can keep track of the healthy home attributes of her listings. Included: energy-efficient appliances and windows, zoned heating, natural carpets, low-flush toilets and cabinetry constructed "forest-stewardship council certified" wood, which is harvested in an environmentally conscious way. The house at 15 Live Oak Way boasts all of those attributes and more.
The $3.85 million, 4 bedroom, six bath (dual-flush toilets!) home is built in an old chert quarry and feels more like something you'd see nestled in the red rocks of Sedona than NorCal. Much of the 30-acre communities property is set aside as perpetual open space, making it possible to hike from your back door 20 miles to Inverness on protected trails. The horse-shoe-shaped design of the house is ingenious because all the rooms overlook the swimming pool, which is solar heated via a thousand feet of water tubing buried beneath the concrete patio slabs. It features 100% wool carpet with recycled natural padding (no offgassing!); recycled, hand-painted tile and Saltillo Mexican clay tile; and all wall and ceiling paint emits zero or low Volatile Organic Compounds (protects the ozone layer!) Solar panels help power the place, of course.
"Every material that was chosen for this house was looked at from a green perspective," said Michael LeValley, the principal who materminded the project. With listing broker Abby Kagan, Michael and Stacey showed us around the place. "What we're really doing is returning to classical architectural principles," Michael said, as we entered the kitchen, where a recyling station is built into the island cabinets. "It was only post World War II when we got away from paying attention to those principles because of the rush to create mass housing for returning GIs."
We said we loved the house, but noted the paradox of building a giant, sprawling house that's supposed to use fewer of the world's resources. Michael said: "Remember that the first adopters of any new technology are those who can afford. Some people are always going to want big houses, so why not give them environmentally conscious big houses? Don't you want to convert the biggest consumers first?" He added: "If I told you I could get every Hummer driver to drive a hybrid SUV, wouldn't you feel like we were making progress?" It was a good argument. If only only we could afford the house.
15 Live Oak Way will be shown from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m during an open house on Sunday, April 20.
Last week's weekend reading: The Flipper tries to buy a foreclosure at an auction on the courthouse steps
