In this 10‑minute video, former lawyer‑turned real‑estate agent Austin Klar gives a comprehensive overview of Novato, Marin County, aimed at prospective residents and homebuyers. He introduces himself and his local expertise, then describes Novato’s location, size, population, and commuting options (car vs. Larkspur ferry). He outlines the town’s lifestyle amenities—including downtown Grant Avenue dining and shopping, the large Vintage Oaks Shopping Center, music/comedy venues, and museums—followed by a detailed look at outdoor recreation such as Stafford Lake Park, Marinwood Open Space Preserve, Rush Creek, Deer Island Preserve, golf courses, and a skate park. Klar explains the variety of neighborhoods (waterfront, country‑club, townhome, equestrian) and highlights the generally flat, suburban layout with larger lot sizes compared to denser Marin towns. He provides recent market data: 203 single‑family homes sold in 2023 at an average $1.32 M (≈30 days on market) and 42 townhomes at $765 k, contrasting these figures with county‑wide averages. He notes pros (affordability, green space, proximity to San Rafael, Sonoma/Napa wine country) and cons (hotter summer weather, longer commute to San Francisco or the South Bay). The video ends with a call to action for viewers to contact him for personalized assistance and to subscribe to his channel.
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If you want affordable Marin living that gives you the best of both worlds, access to Marin's green spaces without sacrificing access to bars, restaurants, and other nightlife and activities, then the town of Novato is a great option for you. And in this video, I'm gonna break down all things Novato, including what day-to-day life is like there and how much it costs to live there. 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 been a Bay Area resident for over a decade, giving me in-depth firsthand knowledge of what it's like to both live and work there. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about the real estate market 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 city of Novato. This family-friendly town is located at the northern end of Marin, almost 30 miles from San Francisco. Takes about 40, 45 minutes or so to get to Novato from San Francisco by car if there's zero traffic. If you don't want to drive all that way, you can take a short car ride to to the Larkspur Ferry and take about 35 or so minutes from the ferry to get to San Francisco. Um, certainly a longer commute, assuming there's no traffic driving, uh, taking the ferry route, but you will save money on bridge tolls and parking if you take the ferry over driving to the city. Novato is Marin's largest town. It's about 27 square miles large, and over 50,000 people live there. And with that size comes a ton of things to do, you know, a lot more than other much smaller towns in other areas of Marin, like Araujo or San Anselmo. So if you're looking for more affordable living with having access to a lot of things to do, it really is a great option. The weather in Novato is on the warmer side compared to other parts of Marin, especially during the summers. During the peak of summer, it can get well into the 90s, but generally speaking, it's closer to the 80s than the 90s, but it does get up there. As far as things to do, there's a pretty good-sized downtown area surrounding Grant Avenue with a ton of places to eat, drink, shop. One of my favorite sushi spots in all of the Bay Area, Masa, is in downtown in downtown Novato. And if sushi isn't your thing, obviously there are a lot of other options there. Besides downtown, there are other shopping centers spread out across the city. The largest is the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center, which has a ton of big-name stores, brands. You know, there's a Costco there, Target there, Banana Republic, a bunch of other retail stores. So really a lot of different shopping and activity options in Novato. Aside from eating and shopping, there are, you know, multiple music venues, stand-up comedy venues, and other event venues there as well. There are also multiple museums throughout the city if you're looking for a more, you know, cultural educational type experience or activity. Aside from the entertainment, there are a ton of outdoor activities in Novato as well. The town is surrounded by all the natural landscapes, hills, and open green spaces and hiking trails available in Marin. The Marinwood Open Space Preserve and Stafford Lake Park are particularly beautiful and popular. Lots of opportunity to be outside to enjoy the warm weather. You know, Stafford Lake Park is a 139-acre park where people fish, bike, camp, there's really a lot to do. There's also Rush Creek and Deer Island Preserve where people do like nature hikes, they go bird watching, you know, there are over 4,000 acres of open space along with multiple golf courses and parks, and there's even a skate park, you know, if you have children who are into skateboarding. So there are really a lot of options in Novato for all types of outdoor activities, almost no matter what you're, you're really into, there's probably going to be something for everyone in the family. And living in Novato also has benefits of being close to other Marin areas that themselves have a lot to do. So you're not stuck to just doing things in Novato. You can, of course, you know, drive a short distance and be near a ton of other great things to do. Um, it borders the city of San Rafael just a couple miles away, and San Rafael, also one of the largest cities in Marin with one of the larger downtowns. So all the things that you have in Novato, you also have more options in neighboring towns like San Rafael. Another great benefit of living in Novato is how much closer you are to Sonoma County and Napa County. Sonoma County in particular is about 30 minutes drive away from Novato, assuming of course that there's no traffic. So you have really easy access to wine country, all the great food, wineries, shopping, all the recreation that's available in Sonoma that people travel from literally all over the world to see. You have it almost in your backyard if you live in Novato. So really a ton of things to do both in and outside of Novato in the immediate surrounding areas. Make it a really great place to live. So what are neighborhoods like there? The different types of neighborhoods are about as varied as all the things that are available for you to do in Novato. You have some waterfront communities like Belmar and Keys where people have, you know, lagoon front homes with private boat docks. And then there are country club communities, there are townhome subdivisions, equestrian communities. There are really a lot of different types of living options for people of any type of lifestyle that you're looking for. Another great benefit of living in Novato over other parts of Marin is that you don't get nearly as many narrow, windy, you know, hillside roads that you do in, say, areas like Mill Valley and San Anselmo. Most of Novato is built on relatively flat, very open space. The roads are generally a lot wider than you see in other parts of town. The homes aren't stacked on top of each other like they are, you know, close to downtown Mill Valley. So you do get a more suburban feel living in Novato than some of the other more dense parts of Marin. And you also get pretty good-sized lots living in Novato as well. You know, even entry-level homes have 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 square foot lots, which, you know, if you think about the average lot size in San Francisco, which is about 2,500 square feet, these lots are a lot larger. You get really big backyards, really big front yards, really well-set back homes with a lot of space to, you know, walk around for kids to play and feel safe. And all of them are comparatively more affordable than their counterparts in other areas in Marin. Because Novato is such a big town with very large population. More homes sell there than in other parts of Marin. So far this year in 2023, by the time I'm filming this video, which is toward the end of July, but 203 single-family homes have sold for an average price of $1.32 million, and those homes have sold in a little bit over 30 days on the market. And compare that to the average Marin home, which sells for about $2.2 million over that same time frame and takes also about 30 days to sell, you can see how much of a price difference there really is. And as I also mentioned, there are a lot of townhome subdivisions in Novato 42 townhomes have sold in Novato this year for an average price of $765,000. When you're comparing that to, say, the average price of condos in more expensive parts of Marin like Tiburon, where they're well over a million dollars, same in San Francisco where they're around $1.2, $1.3 million over that same time frame, you really are getting a lot more space and value for your money in a place like Novato compared to, uh, Southern Marin or even in San Francisco. As far as downsides to living in Novato, it does get a lot hotter there than other parts of Marin, but a lot of people like really weather, so that's not necessarily a downside. I think the real main downside is going to be the commute time. If you live in Novato but don't work remotely, you know, if you have to go to San Francisco or you have to go to the South Bay, even the East Bay, for example, you know, you're going to be spending a significant amount of time commuting. Even if you end up driving a little bit and just take the ferry, you're still spending an hour of your day or there, thereabouts on the commute each way. So it is a significant commute time if you have to go into work every day. You know, definitely think about that before getting a place place in Novato. Well, there you have it. That's the scoop on Novato. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about Novato or other areas in Marin or in San Francisco, 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.
