Installment 4: San Geronimo & Nicasio Valleys

Departing home in the shire of Ross to the peal of church bells I head west to the eastern section of west Marin County … cresting White Hill I enter the first of the twin valleys of San Geronimo and Nicasio, with Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center on the right and the town of Woodacre on the left. West of Woodacre the other valley towns are Lagunitas, San Geronimo and Forest Knolls. Slightly north is the valley of Nicasio. Farther west are Olema and the beach towns … 82 per cent of Marin is open space and much of the opens space is right here in these glorious valleys. 


Life, and real estate, tend to move slower in west Marin … this core section holds the twin valleys with Rancho Nicasio, located directly at the geographic center of the Marin County and also serving as the music center of west Marin with great BBQs on the lawn and quality entertainment … Elvin Bishop and Shana Morrison are coming soon…originally master planned for 56,000 people these valleys hold around 6000 sometimes quiet folk. The other 50,000 souls went to … what? San Jose?

In the twin valleys there are currently 35 properties available on multiple listing (MLS) … seven are in escrow, two of which are awaiting the moving vans … That’s not a great amount of activity … consider that there have only been 14 sales in the last six months … with an average price just at $500,000, price per square foot at $368.

To give perspective to the price per square foot, glance at Stinson Beach with 7 sales (two by moi) and a price per square foot of $839, Ross with 13 sales and a price per square foot of $712 or Tiburon with 45 sales and a price per square foot of $649.

There were two recent all cash sales of interest in San Geronimo and Nicasio Valleys … 118 Arroyo, a home with a 4.4 acre lot in Lagunitas that sold quickly … a great fit for the buyers … for $1.8M … by far the largest recent sale … and at the other end of the price spectrum a tiny home on .4 acres on Lagunitas Road that was listed by Bill Johnson of Frank Howard Allen at $175,000 and sold rather quickly for $125,000 … needed septic work and there’s little doubt that the banks would not have loaned on it… a real bargain at $143 per square foot.

Currently on the mls there are two upscale homes near Skywalker Ranch. 5200 Lucas Valley Road, which features resort living on 20 acres, has bocce ball and tennis courts, a swimming pool and much more … wanna come see? call, email or text me! … this property reduced in price by $500,000 is now available at the jazzy price of $4,645,250.

If you like the number six, for less than half the price of 5200 Lucas Valley Road there’s a jazzy six bedroom, six bath home on 6.6 acres … bridge over babbling brook … caregiver quarters … solar swimming pool … 6101 Lucas Valley Road just came on the market and is a bargain at $2,295,000.

For trivial pursuit games in the future … how about a price half of the price of the home that was half the price of 5200 Lucas Valley … 65 El Mirador Drive, reduced from $1,295,000 to $950,000 … is both a probate sale (owner died) and a short sale (woopsie!). Big southern views, fun home on a private 10 acre parcel off of Camino Margarita.

Where will your Bargain Hunter next travel? Stay tuned! And get ready to have some fun, eat some great meals and put the real in real estate … together.

Best Buys & Bargains in Marin County Real Estate 
Installment 1: Sausalito, June 9, 2010
Installment 2: Aboard the Bus, June 10, 2010
Installment 3: Update on June 10, 2010 posting
Installment 4: San Geronimo & Nicasio Valleys
Installment 5: Condos in Tiburon, CA
Installment 6: Update on Sausalito Blvd
Installment 7: Three Properties … all Potentially Good Buys

Posted by:  Tom Verkozen