Installment 2: Aboard the Bus, June 10, 2010
Departing home in the shire of Ross to the peal of church bells I was headed to the Marin Real Tours bus staging point in Greenbrae where none of us, 38 agents from the dozen top brokerages, held much idea of what a marvelous day danced ahead …
Boarding the bus there was an open seat next to Jen Pennington, a glowing Alabama gal, now back with Coldwell Banker (Congrats, CB!) … merrily we talked the morning away, even catching up on our mutual friend Merrily Milmoe.
The bus tour … a merry group of carefully top flight agents representing the crème de la crème of Marin County’s real estate brokers … headed south on US 101 then turned into Tiburon and up onto the toes of Ring Mountain (see Tacy Dunham’s ‘Hike of the Week’ in today’s Marin Independent Journal) … our first stop. 210 Taylor, a spectacular Hunt Hale Jones and Anne Thull designed home, is listed by Patricia Navone of Pacific Union Real Estate. Yummy!
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Offering six full bedrooms and five and a half baths, the ooos and ahhhhhs flowed. We’re not jaded … we just live in the most magnificent of real estate and sell the finest of homes.Matt MacPhee, our fearless cat herder, had to do a kiddie head count on the bus to see if anybody had been entranced by the view to reboard the bus, had decided to hide out and declare squatters rights or buy ($5,995,000). We did see someone meandering up the trail that begins right there near 210 Taylor Road … just a hiker enjoying the open space that begins at your doorstep WHEN/IF you decide to buy this warm and glorious piece of paradise. Imagine the parties ….
If you want to learn more about this home, which features fabulous view from every room, contact me or go to Patricia’s website. On second thought, contact me!
Real estate sales
Nationally and locally, April and May produced a bumper crop of home sales. It is now June and the tax credit is history (somehow one would be pressed to believe that the tax credit makes any real difference to the Tiburon buyer … especially in a local where the average sales price in the last six months was slightly over $2.33M. Yet the spring frenzy is over and now it’s time to go shopping. Of all the homes on today’s tour this beauty at the top of Taylor was a real livable, water view favorite!!!
More about Brazil and China … the first countries to come out of their recessions – Donata, a friend of mine from Brazil, is coming to town next week and we’ll have to see if she’s willing to exchange a few crystals and a bit of gold for a spot in the Bay Area sun. Yes, the wealthy from Brazil and China are our next wave of Marin County luxury real estate buyers – there’s a link on my website to the Frank Howard Allen Luxury Portfolio that I hope gets worn out with terrific traffic from these countries with booming economies.
Local real estate sales
As noted in my last blog, in Marin County on this, the second week of June, there were 1549 homes active on the market – 45 of them sold (at an average of $458 per square foot).
In Tiburon there are 83 homes active on the market and five homes that are nearly ready for the moving vans to bring new owners … buyers who are now ready to close escrow and move in. In the past six months there have been 44 sales in Tiburon (average price per square foot $645), with two of those homes closing for more than $5M (232 Trinidad at $6.5M and 3860 Paradise at $7.8M) … Andy Gellepis and Bruce Forner have the stunning home at 85 Spring in escrow (asking $9.5M).
The next home on our tour was a gracious one-level 1800 plus square foot three bedroom two bath home at 50 Stewart. This quality home would allow your children to attend the award winning Tiburon schools. Offered by Valerie Castellana of Alain Pinel Realtors at the incredible price of $1,385,000, we all viewed it as a real value.
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After 50 Stewart we traveled up Lyford Drive to 60 Mt Tiburon, a gated $8.8M estate high above the bay with magnificent views. You can view the pictures through the multiple listing feed on my website (hit the property search button). As always, there are some Great pictures to check out, showing the rest of the homes and estates in Sausalito, Tiburon, or Belvedere … our next bus tour stop … or search any town Marin County via …. www.tomverkozen.com!
Ah, the pleasure of shopping for Marin County real estate … work? … I pinch myself each morning … if the concept of living a stone’s throw from the heart of San Francisco appeals to you, or you love to hike, bike, ride horses, sail and live in the greenbelt of the greater SF bay area, call me. Quick! some these homes are real bargains and will be snapped up … while some will take months to market (and will wait for you if my Mandarin fails me).
After a tour that included a trip to Belvedere to see 2 West Shore, a five bedroom home in the heart of Belvedere, the bus took us to Carrie Sherriff’s new-to-the-market five bedroom listing at 410 Magee, Mill Valley. At $5,250,000 the least expensive of the five $5M+ homes currently on the market in Mill Valley …
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This renovated Victorian, which I drooled over when I saw it yesterday with Jim Cottle in tow, is a real short sale bargain opportunity at $1,300,000.
Alas, the bus proceeded north into Terra Linda as Jen led us in some market talk. Yep, we work on the bus and catch up on what other agents are finding successful.
Next we went to see 232 Devon Drive which is listed by Frank Howard Allen’s own Joe Bondanza at the very competitive price of $779,000 (a similar floor plan home two doors up the street that recently sold in two days at $832,000). Oh, the values and bargains.
Exhausted, we trundled ourselves to 15 Pinehill in San Rafael, then to 15 Quisisana, Kentfield, a somewhat tired … if it smells bad [it doesn’t] or it’s tired [it is] it is a good buy … three bedroom home listed by Karen Narodny, was being shown by two agents when the bus arrived. This home is not on multiple listing – for the seller’s personal reasons – but the word is out and it is available at $989,000. The Kentfield market? 37 homes available, four in escrow … hummm.
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
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Tom Verkozen
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