Marin County, CA Real Estate & Homes for Sale

Which rules apply when you buy in Marin County?

Start with jurisdiction: city code inside the 11 cities and towns, county code everywhere else. Addresses mislead. Mill Valley addresses extend into unincorporated Tamalpais Valley, some San Rafael and Novato addresses (Santa Venetia, Lucas Valley, Marinwood, Bel Marin Keys) may be outside city limits, Greenbrae is split, and Waldo Point Harbor’s floating homes have Sausalito addresses but are unincorporated. Check the parcel number with both planning counters.

Transfer tax by city

Every sale pays the county’s $1.10 per $1,000; San Rafael is the only city the county recorder lists with its own tax (Marin County Assessor-Recorder). The contract decides who pays.

Measure W, on San Rafael’s November 3, 2026 ballot, would raise the city rate from 0.2% to 1%, a flat rate with no tiers or exemptions listed; it needs a simple majority and was pending when we reviewed this page (Marin County Elections). It’s unrelated to the county’s 2018 West Marin hotel-tax measure of the same name. Belvedere voters rejected a city transfer tax in 2022. Property tax follows Proposition 13: 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved debt, with the assessment reset at sale and rising at most 2% a year after that (Board of Equalization); the bill also lists parcel taxes such as Measure C.

Vacation rentals and hotel tax by jurisdiction

The 14% West Marin rate (the county’s TOT2 zone) applies in the area Ordinance 3692 defines as unincorporated Marin “from Muir Beach to Dillon Beach,” including Nicasio. For Muir Beach, Tomales and Dillon Beach parcels, confirm the rate on the county’s Measure W parcel listing (Marin County Finance).

County licenses are capped at 1,200, not counting Dillon Beach, and townships have caps that step down as licenses lapse (County of Marin, 2025): Dillon Beach 125 rising to 204, Inverness 93 to 86, Bolinas 63 to 54, Marshall 28 to 27, Muir Beach 20 to 19, Woodacre 12 to 8, Tomales 12 to 11, Nicasio 11 to 8, San Geronimo 10 to 7, Forest Knolls 8, Lagunitas 6 to 4 and Olema 3. The county’s October 2026 procedures list Dillon Beach at 204, Inverness 86, Bolinas 54, Marshall 27, Muir Beach 19, Tomales 11 and Stinson Beach 192, with Seadrift counted separately; ask the county for any township not listed here. Most ADUs created since 2020 can’t be licensed.

A county rental license ends automatically when the property sells, except one transfer to a spouse or children. Price a West Marin home without the seller’s license income.

Rent rules by city

State law caps most increases at 5% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower, exempting housing under 15 years old and many houses and condos owned by individuals who give tenants notice (Civil Code §1947.12). Local layers:

A building bought with tenants comes with their tenancies, so read the rent roll and notices with an attorney before removing contingencies.

Sewer laterals and resale inspections

Fire: Measure C, hazard maps and AB 38

Measure C, the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority’s ten-year parcel tax, passed in March 2020 with 70.8%. It was set in 2020 at up to 10 cents per building square foot (or $75 per multifamily unit), adjusted for inflation each year; Tiburon and Belvedere are outside it (MWPA). State fire maps took effect April 1, 2024 for state areas and came out in February and March 2025 for cities (State Fire Marshal), so check the parcel, not an old disclosure. In a High or Very High zone, AB 38 requires a defensible-space inspection from the six months before sale, or a written agreement that the buyer gets one within a year. The 1995 Vision Fire near Inverness destroyed 45 homes and structures.

Get fire and flood insurance quotes in the first days of escrow, while you can still renegotiate or walk away.

Flood: Zone 9, Corte Madera Creek and the bay edge

FEMA’s countywide flood maps took effect March 17, 2014 (Federal Register); a home in a Special Flood Hazard Area needs flood insurance for a federally backed loan.

The coastal zone and Local Coastal Program

Ten unincorporated communities are in the coastal zone: Bolinas, Dillon Beach, Inverness, Marshall, Muir Beach, Olema, Point Reyes Station, Seadrift, Stinson Beach and Tomales; Nicasio isn’t on the list. Development there is reviewed under the Local Coastal Program through Coastal Development Permits; the program was updated effective July 13, 2021, but its Environmental Hazards chapter was withdrawn before certification (Coastal Commission). On the bay, BCDC permits cover the first 100 feet of shoreline, Sausalito’s marinas included (BCDC).

Farmland: zoning, Williamson Act and MALT

A 2026 county file shows a 45-acre Nicasio parcel zoned ARP-60, one home per 60 acres (County of Marin); Spirit Rock’s land by Woodacre is AG2 and ARP-20. Williamson Act contracts renew yearly, bind later buyers, and a standard contract costs 12.5% of current market value to cancel (Department of Conservation). The Marin Agricultural Land Trust holds 99 permanent easements on 59,028 acres (MALT). Farm homestays and rentals on commercial farm parcels of 10+ acres are exempt from rental licensing, and a January 2025 settlement retires 12 ranching operations on Point Reyes National Seashore.

Water, wells and septic

Bolinas’s Ordinance 2026-02 on meter transfers came up for second reading in May 2026, but its adoption isn’t confirmed, so ask the district which rules apply.