Many families move to Marin to take advantage of the terrific public schools. Of course, there are many wonderful private schools, too, but Marin’s public schools are worth a look that could save you a small fortune. Many of the schools offer tours, most of which are listed below by town/school district.
Here’s a webpage I just put together with many of the Marin public school tours and open house dates – a one stop resource for people wanting to explore Central/Southern Marin public schools.
I am amazed at the weather today all over Marin County CA! Went to Sleepy Hollow and it felt like summer! This rose caught my eye. Hard to believe roses are still blooming in November!
Typically Ross doesn’t get national attention, likely due to its very small size. But now that Ross has made No. 20 on one of Forbes Magazine’s many lists, the marvelous and talented Barry Tompkins has a few things to say about Ross as well! Wonder what’s next…
Am in love with a new home furnishing store in Strawberry in Mill Valley, BLISS. Check it out! I was helped by maria Iacobucci, Senior Interior Designer 415.383.3579 (yes, they do home visits which is great for someone like me who can become wrought with analysis paralysis despite being in love with almost everything in the store). 
I am delighted to introduce a new listing of mine in one of the most desirable areas of Mill Valley:
2 Sidney Street, Mill Valley BOYLE PARK!
This exquisitely remodeled European inspired home in Boyle Park offers a highly desirable open floor plan and 4 bedrooms all on the same level in addition to a large studio/bonus room off the Master (450+/- s.f.), both with Mt. Tam views. The chef’s kitchen is adjacent to the family room with access to an inviting outdoor loggia, private, groomed grounds and level yard. Its ideal location offers easy access to Mill Valley’s beloved Boyle Park, its baseball fields, playground and tennis courts. Moments from the Mill Valley Tennis/Swim Club, golf course, trails, downtown Mill Valley, and award-winning schools. Direct bus service to the San Francisco Financial District just a block away!
Shown by appointment!
I am so excited to have “discovered” the amazing artist Isabel Wyatt. Her work is wonderful! I love the colors she uses and the sophisticated yet edginess of the youthful raw shapes she creates within her striking work. I hope to collect many of her pieces! Three of my favorites are below:
Courtesy Sonoma School of Business and Economics
I am delighted to present a new listing in Kentfield.
Originally designed in 1939 by celebrated architect Warren Charles Perry, former dean of the Architecture School at UC Berkeley, this newly remodeled and expanded home is sophistication personified. Melding architectural charm, modern conveniences and state of the art systems into an integrated masterpiece, Perry’s elegant Beaux Arts design shines brighter than ever. With ultimate views—Mt. Tamalpais from every room in the house, and 2.5 acres (including a divisible 1 acre lot) of sun kissed gardens and natural beauty, 70 Poplar Drive possesses the ultimate luxury and privacy.
Located in the historic Del Mesa estate area of Kentfield, and within the prestigious Ross School district, its stately entrance gates only hint at the beauty that awaits at the end of the long driveway’s graceful curves.
Price upon request.
I have a new listing in Ross. A Bernard Maybeck vintage gem. When the property was last on the market, something like 50 years ago, the classified ad below was used. There’s something about it that cracks me up; I hear the voice of an old radio announcer while I read it. But interestingly, or perhaps unfortunately, real estate print advertising hasn’t changed all that much over the years. (If you click on it, the ad will appear larger.)
Fortunately there are alternatives to promoting properties other than using soley print advertising. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words: www.rossmaybeck.com
Where do you look for information about homes for sale?
My favorite thing about being a realtor is working with great people and becoming intimately involved in their lives, if only for a while. I recently received a call from newlyweds Caitlin and Cyrus after they found themselves at an open house and decided on the spot that it was the house for them. Twenty one days later the house became theirs. Just before the closing, Caitlin got her first look at her wedding photos, and being thrilled by them, she sent me the link. The images captured by photographer Ben Chrisman are magical. Their wedding and their imminent move into their new home (and its imminent redesign thanks to 2009 Designer of the Year nominee Caitlin’s interior design talent) is a real life fairy tale that I enjoyed being a part of. And knowing what I know about them, they will indeed live happily ever after.
I previewed a house yesterday that brought me to tears. Somehow it got me: the charm, the details, the artfulness. This wonderful home is located in Mill Valley, but seems as if was imported from the hills of Mexico! Last year i went to Los Cabos hoping for an aesthetic like this, but saw nothing that compares, especially in its artfulness. One of my favorite architectural features of the Mill Valley home are the three windows exquisitely trimmed in picture frames that ingeniously frame a million dollar view of the redwoods.
My visceral experience during my preview of this home reminds me how very emotional home buying can be!
Take a look: 300 Summit, Mill Valley
Did you know:
More than 16% of Marin’s children live in poverty and more than 35% of households live below the basic self-sufficiency income for a family of three (one parent and two children).
Food pantries have seen increases as high as 70% in the number of people in need of food compared to the same month last year.
That’s why now through December 31st, all Alain Pinel Realtors of Marin offices will be accepting donations of non-perishable food, as well as new or gently-used coats and other clothing items. Donations can be made during business hours at any of our APR Marin County offices in Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Ross or Novato. Or you may also drop off your donation at any of our Sunday open houses and one of our Realtors will deliver your items to a donation center for you.
For more information about this program, please call 415-755-1111 or email my Marin County manager, Steve Dickason at sdickason@apr.com.
Nobody can do Everything, but Everyone can do Something
I have a few clients that have donated their homes to the fire department and in return have benefited from a whopping tax deduction for a home they were planning to tear down anyway in order to replace it with a new home. Looks like the IRS is challenging this practice. Here’s a link to the first article I’ve ever seen about this:
http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/6078418/
Alain Pinel Realtors (APR) is pleased to announce further growth in the Marin County real estate market with the opening of a new boutique office in Ross. This comes on top of the opening of two offices in Marin County earlier this year, with new branches opening in both Corte Madera and Novato in March. There are now 31 APR offices in Northern California and approximately 1,300
agents.
The new APR Ross office, a space shared with SL:ID STUDIO, founded by principal designer Samantha Lyman, is a place where Ross Valley homeowners and prospective homeowners can obtain information and advice about Ross Valley real estate. Visitors can view a slide show of Ross Valley homes for sale as well as samples of Lyman’s furnishings and accessories. In the conferencing area, real estate counselors will provide information about the Marin marketplace, Ross Valley amenities such as schools, shopping, police and fire protection, parks and recreational facilities. “We’re very excited to announce the opening of our third Marin office,” said Larry Knapp, President of Alain Pinel Realtors. “It establishes a stronger presence in the luxury Marin market where our plans include more offices in the future.” Steve Dickason, Vice President of Alain Pinel Realtors Marin office, will oversee the Ross office and ensure delivery of our comprehensive services and support to local agents and clients. “We are delighted to be opening an office in Ross and, with Samantha’s vision, to be able to provide such a uniquely pleasing, living room environment for our local clients to meet with their agents,” said Dickason.
Alain Pinel Realtors (APR) is the largest privately-owned and independent residential real estate company in California. APR was ranked the eighth largest residential real estate firm in the United States based on its sales volume in 2008, and has been consistently ranked in the Top 10 firms in the country. The firm has approximately 1,300 agents in its 31 offices throughout the Bay Area. APR was founded in 1990 by Chairman and CEO Paul Hulme, and is based in Saratoga, Calif. For more information about APR, please visit our website at apr.com.
Founded by Samantha Lyman in 2005, SL:ID STUDIO is an interior design practice based out of Ross, Calif. The studio offers comprehensive interior design and interior architectural detailing for both new construction and renovation projects, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although relaxed modernism is the signature of SL:ID STUDIO, Lyman and her partner Sam Penman are fluent in several styles and periods. Projects evolve from a client’s personal style, the architecture and the site itself. Lyman studied journalism at NYU and launched her career at fashion magazines in New York. This early experience continues to exert a major influence on her work today.
The following is a recent statement from the Federal Open Market Committee:
“the Federal Reserve is in the process of buying $300 billion of Treasury securities. To promote a smooth transition in markets as these purchases of Treasury securities are completed, the Committee has decided to gradually slow the pace of these transactions and anticipates that the full amount will be purchased by the end of October.”
An analysis of the Committee’s statement by Mortgage Daily News:
Plain and Simple: Instead of abruptly ending the program, the Federal Reserve will gradually ease their way out of it. The broad based perception of mortgage and real estate professionals is that housing remains very weak. Most believe the expiration of the Treasury purchase program will result in higher Treasury yields and consequently rising mortgage rates, which will further dampen the housing recovery. The gradual phase out of Fed Treasury buying should serve to alleviate some of the stress of lost demand side support. Furthermore the Fed’s MBS and Agency Debt purchase program remains in tact. In the coming weeks we should see the market’s reaction to the termination of the Treasury purchase program.
And here is what Warren Buffet has to say about inflation:
“the US economy is in uncharted fiscal territory because of massive government spending to avoid a deep recession. Enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered, and before long, we will need to deal with their side effects. For now, most of those effects are invisible and could indeed remain latent for a long time. Still, their threat may be as ominous as that posed by the financial crisis itself.”
The Bottom Line:
1. The Fed will discontinue its purchasing of Treasury Securities by the end of October but the Treasury will continue to flood the market with Securities.
= HIGHER INTEREST RATES.
2. As the economy improves and the job market stabilizes, inflation will return.
= HIGHER INTEREST RATES.
Of course, no one knows how much interest rates will increase in the next 6 months, but 0.5-1% is likely.
The Point:
If you’re planning to buy or sell this year or early 2010, sooner is probably better.
We are starting to see more homes sales in Marin and interestingly some areas are getting more action than others, with some areas a buyers market and others more balanced. Will we soon be seeing a sellers market anywhere? If only I had a chrystal ball!
What kind of activity do you think we’ll be seeing in your town over the next year and why?
There are laws governing yard sales! I didn’t know that (but now I do and so can you): It’s illegal to sell recalled items. Check out today’s article in the WSJ for more information:
Home sales are starting to finally pick up! Not necessarily prices, but activity indeed and even in the higher price ranges. Many buyers are once again facing multiple offers on homes of their choice. (Interestingly, just because a home receives multiple offers, it doesnt necessarily mean the home ends up selling above the asking price. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.) ‘Tis the season to buy and sell!
Saturday May 9th is the annual Ross Garden Tour. Totally worth checking out and a wonderful way to spend the day.
I do the photography for the tour and can tell you the gardens are all fabulous and each one special in their own unique way. For more information go to:
http://www.rossgardentour.org
