In this 2023 YouTube video, real‑estate agent Austin Klar, a former lawyer, outlines the five most affordable neighborhoods in Marin County that remain within a reasonable commute to San Francisco. He begins by noting that while Marin’s overall home prices now exceed San Francisco’s, several Marin towns still offer lower average home prices and acceptable commute times. Klar explains his selection criteria—affordability, proximity to the city, and livability—then provides a detailed profile for each community: San Anselmo, San Rafael, Fairfax, Novato, and Woodacre. For each area he describes location, transportation options (driving, ferry, bus), local amenities (downtown, parks, cultural events, outdoor recreation), and recent market data (number of single‑family homes sold since Jan 2022, average sale price, average days on market, average lot size). He ranks them from most to least affordable, highlighting Woodacre as the cheapest at about $1.2 M, and ends with a personal invitation for viewers to contact him for relocation assistance, encouraging subscriptions and engagement. The video serves both as an informational guide for potential homebuyers and a promotional piece for Klar’s real‑estate services.
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It is now more expensive to buy a home on average in Marin County than it is in San Francisco, but believe it or not, there are actually several neighborhoods in Marin County where the average home is actually less expensive still than the average home in San Francisco, and they're still within commuting distance to the city. And in this video, I'm gonna break down 5 of the most affordable of those neighborhoods, including what it's like to live in each of those and how much it costs. What's up everyone? This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent and real estate developer in San Francisco and Marin County. I've lived in the Bay Area for over a decade, giving me firsthand in-depth knowledge of the San Francisco and Marin county real estate markets and lifestyle. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about those markets, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I'd be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please subscribe to my channel and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video. All right, so this video is all about the 5 most affordable neighborhoods in Marin that are still commuting distance to San Francisco. Now there are parts of Marin that are further north, like 90+ minutes away from the city, and those neighborhoods tend to be less expensive from housing perspective than the neighborhoods I'm talking about now because they are so far away, but for purposes of this video I'm focusing on 5 neighborhoods that are within commuting distance, I think a reasonable commuting distance, to San Francisco or the South Bay. So let's just get right into it. Coming in at number 5 is an incredibly cute town, San Anselmo. San Anselmo is located 14 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It's situated between San Rafael to the east, Ross to the south, and Fairfax to the west. The town is between hills and mountains with creeks like flowing through it. So it is one of the most beautifully landscaped neighborhoods with incredible weather. The town itself, it's relatively small. It's about 2.6 square miles, and it's at the intersection of some of Marin's busiest streets: Sir Francis Drake, Center Boulevard, and Miracle Mile. San Anselmo's location near Central Marin gives it sort of a best of both worlds feel, in my opinion at least. It's extremely close to like the nature preserves and mountains of Marin, but also relatively close drive to, you know, the ferry in Larkspur or to the big city, San Francisco, to the south. Um, without traffic, you can get to San Francisco in 30 to 40 minutes, but honestly, Sir Francis Drake in particular gets pretty backed up, so expect a little bit longer, especially during rush hour, if you need to take that street to get to your destination. There is no ferry terminal in San Anselmo, but if you want to take a boat to work, the Larkspur Ferry is just a few miles away, and you can get to the city in about 35 to 40 minutes as well. Um, there are also buses that get you to the city, and it takes about an hour. Um, as far as things to do, San Anselmo is great. It's famous for its antique There's a very cute, very charming downtown that has great antique shops and other shops as well. There are day spas, art galleries, and restaurants there too. Numerous parks, playgrounds throughout, Creek Park, Fodd Park, Lansdale Park, Memorial Park, Millennium Playground, and a lot more. The town hosts music and art festivals. There's movies in the park. There are wine festivals. And there are also holiday-themed events like a tree lighting and Easter egg hunts. Awesome. So there's really a ton to do. 175 single-family homes have sold since January of 2022 to when I'm making this video, the beginning of May of 2023, for an average of about $2.1 million. And those homes spent about 50 days on market. And the average size of lots of those homes was about 17,000 square feet, which is a pretty good size. Number 4 on the list is San Rafael. San Rafael is 15 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and it's the oldest city in all of Marin. The city is huge compared to a lot of other Marin towns. It's about 22 square miles. It's the second largest after Novato, which I discuss later in this video. Um, there are 30 different neighborhoods within San Rafael. My favorites are the Forbes neighborhood and the Dominican neighborhood near Dominican University. Um, honestly, some of the most beautiful historic homes in the area are in those areas. From a commute standpoint, San Rafael's a bit further away than the more expensive locations of Marin, which is part of the reason why it's on the less expensive side. Without traffic, a drive to San Francisco is about 35 to 40 minutes. Like San Anselmo, there's no ferry in San Rafael. The closest one is Larkspur, and it'll take about the same amount of time by ferry as it would to drive to the city. San Rafael also has a very great downtown area. Some of the most things to do in all of Marin are in San Rafael's downtown. There are multiple theaters, shopping centers, museums, art galleries. So, you know, you definitely don't need to travel outside of the city to have fun things to do. San Rafael is also great for outdoors. The weather there, it gets very warm in the summer, and otherwise it's pretty mild year round. It's perfect for hiking or jogging, you know, throughout the hills there. There are multiple beaches and waterfront parks, so it's easy to get, you know, water sports, volleyball, you know, picnicking and other park activities. San Rafael is also at the border of Mount Tam, so it has access to all the trails, lakes, and incredible views, which is a huge plus of living there. From a trading standpoint, San Rafael is a very active real estate market. 529 single-family homes have sold there since January of 2022 for an average of $1.7 million. And those homes spent about 25 days on the market. And the average lot size of those homes was about 12,000 square feet. Coming in at number 3 is Fairfax. Fairfax is about 4 miles west of the 101 freeway, 18 miles north of SF. So it is a little bit of a distance to get there from the city, which is part of why it's more affordable. It takes, you know, about 45 minutes to get there and The closest ferry terminal to Fairfax is the one in Larkspur. Fairfax is situated on a couple square miles of forest land and is a gateway to some incredible natural wonders of West Marin. Because of its location, Fairfax has some of the best weather in all of Marin, making it great for like biking and hiking, especially to Mount Tam. It is widely considered the birthplace of mountain biking, actually. But there's so much more to do there than just biking. There are multiple lakes, trails, and golfing in the area. In addition to, you know, the outdoor recreation, Fairfax has a great downtown with very charming stores and restaurants and one of the most vibrant nightlife scenes in all of Marin. Unlike a lot of the other areas of Marin, there are actually like breweries and taverns in Fairfax. There's also a local theater. And Fairfax also hosts an annual Brew Fest every March. Brit— they bring in like over two dozen breweries to the Fairfax Pavilion. They also have a weekly farmers market during summer. Um, so there's really a lot to do there, both indoors and outdoors. 108 single-family homes have sold there since January of 2022 for an average of $1.44 million, and they've taken about an average of 22 days to sell. And the average lot size of those homes is about 11,000 square feet. Coming in at number 2 is the largest town in all of Marin, Nevada. Nevada is 25 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and as Marin's largest town, it's about 28 square miles large. A portion of the area is waterfront residences, and the other parts are nestled into the hills, you know, Green Point with views of the Petaluma River. Because it is far from the Golden Gate Bridge, it takes quite a while to get to the city. So if you live there and have to commute, expect closer to an hour for your commute, more if there's traffic. The ferry from Larkspur is the closest ferry. It is a good option, especially if you want to avoid driving, but it's still a little bit of a ways to get to Larkspur from Novato. Novato has a great downtown area with awesome restaurants. My favorite sushi spot in all of Marin, Masa, is in Novato. There are also like great pubs, Mexican food, pizza, wine bars, so plenty to do as far as like nightlife goes. There are also a lot of cultural activities in Novato. The Novato Art Center is there, Marin Museum of Contemporary Contemporary Art is there. And then, you know, like other Marin towns, there's a ton of outdoor activities in Novato. A ton of hills and mountains surrounding the area make it great for biking, jogging, hiking, and just enjoying the outdoors. Like a lot of other towns in Marin, it is very close to Mount Tam and also the Point Reyes National Seashore. So there's really a lot of outdoor action in Novato. 574 single-family homes have sold in Novato since January 2022 to the time I'm filming this video for an average of about $1.4 million., and those homes took an average of about 26 days to sell. And the lot size of those is actually pretty large, about 24,000 square feet, which is a little bit more than half an acre. And coming in at number 1 as the most affordable neighborhood within commuting distance to San Francisco is the city of Woodacre. Woodacre is located in San Jerónimo Valley, and it's a very charming and peaceful town. The city sits at the highest elevation in Marin County, so with its isolation and very rural feel, you get incredible views. Woodacre is about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the city, so it's not that close, but it's definitely close enough where you could live there if you had to commute to work at least a couple days a week. As far as nightlife or like restaurants or bars go, not really much to do in Woodacre, but Woodacre is pretty close to Fairfax, San Anselmo, and San Rafael, so it's pretty easy to get to places that do have those amenities if you're looking for a night out. Um, like other parts of Marin, the town is big on all things nature. The area has its own share of trails, uh, but it's also close to all the outdoor amenities of San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Fairfax. It's also close to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, which contains like thousands of acres of redwoods and grasslands. So plenty of space to be outside. 31 homes have sold in Woodacre since January of 2022 for an average of about $1.2 million, and those homes took about 20 days to sell, and the homes sit on lots of about 17,000 square feet. So you know, more than a quarter of an acre. Well, there you have it. Those are the 5 most affordable neighborhoods in Marin County within a reasonable commuting distance to San Francisco. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about any of these markets, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I'd be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please subscribe to my channel and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video.
