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Floating Homes and Houseboats in Sausalito: A Buyer's Guide

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

A Sausalito floating home is a house built on a float, with no engine, permanently connected to shore utilities and sewer and kept in a rented marina berth; a houseboat with its own propulsion is a vessel, and the two are titled, taxed and financed differently. When you buy a floating home you buy the structure and take over a berth tenancy, so the marina’s rental agreement, the rules of the city or county with authority over the berth, and state Bay permits matter as much as the home. California’s Floating Home Residency Law protects owners in marinas with five or more floating home berths.

Not every floating home with a Sausalito address is in the City of Sausalito. Waldo Point Harbor, home to docks such as Issaquah Dock, is in unincorporated Marin County, which zones it for floating home marinas and applies its own size standards. This guide covers the berth, the law, permits, financing and insurance, inspections and selling.

Sausalito floating homes for sale

Sausalito market report

Floating home, houseboat or live-aboard?

California defines a floating home as a floating structure designed or modified for use as a stationary residence on water, with no power of its own, a continuous utility connection to shore and a permanent connection to a shoreside sewer system (Health and Safety Code section 18075.55). The Revenue and Taxation Code uses the same test and says a vessel isn’t a floating home.

	Floating home	Houseboat or live-aboard boat
Propulsion	None	Has its own engine or sail
Utilities	Continuous shore utilities and permanent sewer hookup	Not required to have a permanent shore sewer hookup
Title	State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)	Not titled by HCD as a floating home; confirm how the vessel is documented
Property tax	Assessed in the same manner as real property (R&T Code section 229)	Outside the floating home rule in section 229
Berth law	Floating Home Residency Law, in marinas with five or more floating home berths	The marina’s slip or live-aboard agreement

The anchor-outs in Richardson Bay are boats anchored outside marinas, a separate issue the city has worked on with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) under an agreement the commission approved on January 21, 2021. They aren’t floating homes.

City marinas and Waldo Point Harbor

The City of Sausalito’s harbor list includes Sausalito Shipyard and Marina at 2350 Marinship Way, with more than 100 berths that take houseboats as well as sailboats and powerboats, and Galilee Harbor at 300 Napa Street, a live-aboard cooperative harbor. Its larger harbors, such as Clipper Yacht Harbor with 700 slips and dry storage spaces and Sausalito Yacht Harbor with 600 berths, mostly serve boats. The list doesn’t state which harbors are inside the city limits, so confirm jurisdiction for each berth.

Waldo Point Harbor is in the unincorporated area. Marin County zones its docks RF-BFC, a floating home marina district combined with a Bayfront Conservation district, and Marin County Development Code section 22.32.075(B) sets standards for a floating home’s height, length and floor area. A home that exceeds them needs a Floating Home Exception under section 22.46.020.

Two 2026 applications show how this works. At 20 Issaquah Dock, a proposed two-story, 1,748-square-foot replacement home, 20 feet above the waterline and 50 feet long, needed an exception for height, length and floor area. At 35 Liberty Dock, a proposed 458-square-foot rooftop deck would raise an existing home from 16 feet 11 inches to 20 feet 5 inches with its guardrail; both were listed as under review.

For the town as a whole, see our Sausalito real estate guide, and for Marin’s wider waterfront, our guide to waterfront homes in Marin.

The berth: your rights under the Floating Home Residency Law

The Floating Home Residency Law, Civil Code section 800 and following, applies to a floating home marina, defined as an area where five or more floating home berths are rented or offered for rent. A small nonprofit marina governed by its berthholders, with fewer than 25 floating home berths, is excluded.

Written agreement: the rental agreement must be in writing and state the term, the rent, the marina rules, the improvements and services provided with any fees, and management’s duty to maintain common facilities (section 800.21). Any clause waiving your rights under the law is void (section 800.24).
Rent increases: management must give written notice of an increase at least 30 days ahead and state the reason, including how it was calculated (section 800.40).
Termination: management can end or refuse to renew a tenancy only for reasons the law lists, with at least 60 days’ written notice that states specific facts (sections 800.70 and 800.72).
Leaving: a homeowner must give management at least 60 days’ written notice before vacating (section 800.74).

Ask the seller and the marina for the current agreement, the rules, the berth fee history and the utility charges. Those numbers, not just the home’s price, set your monthly cost.

Permits: BCDC, the county and the city

BCDC regulates San Francisco Bay and the shoreline band, the first 100 feet inland from the shoreline, under the McAteer-Petris Act. It says most projects and activities in the Bay and along its shoreline need a BCDC permit, ranging from staff-reviewed administrative and regionwide permits to major permits the commission votes on.

For a buyer, that means a rebuild, a larger float, a new deck or a change of use can need BCDC approval on top of city or county permits. Ask the seller for every permit and exception the home and its berth have received, and compare them with what’s there now.

In the unincorporated area, Marin County’s Community Development Agency handles floating home exceptions and building permits, and you can look up existing permits online. Inside the city, start with Sausalito’s Community Development Department.

Financing and insurance

Floating homes don’t fit standard mortgage rules. Fannie Mae’s condo project standards list non-real-estate property, such as houseboats, among ineligible project characteristics, so expect far fewer loan options than for a house.

Buyers typically pay cash or use a portfolio or specialty lender that holds the loan itself, on terms that differ from a house loan. Ask lenders early whether they lend in the specific marina, because some won’t, and whether they need the marina’s consent to the loan. Diamond may refer you to partners we work with; you’re free to choose any provider.

Insurance is a separate search. Ask an insurance agent what a policy covers for the float, the structure, liability and flood or storm damage, and get a quote before you remove contingencies; our guide to homeowners insurance during escrow covers the timing.

Inspections and due diligence

Float or hull survey. Hire an inspector or marine surveyor who knows floating structures to check the concrete, foam or wood float, its flotation and any leaks, in addition to a standard home inspection of the house above.
Utilities and sewer. Inspect the shore power, water and sewer connections and the gangway, and ask who maintains each up to the home.
Title. Run an HCD title search, which HCD offers online for the floating homes it titles, to confirm the registered owner and any liens.
Taxes. A floating home is assessed in the same manner as real property, so ask for the current tax bill and expect reassessment on purchase.
Flood and sea level rise. Sausalito’s sea level rise page names frequent flooding of Gate 5 Road as a current impact, and the city is preparing a Shoreline Adaptation Plan. Check access to the dock in high tides and storms; our North Bay flood zone guide explains the maps.
Parking and access. Ask what parking comes with the berth and how deliveries and contractors reach the home.

Getting around is part of the decision. Golden Gate Ferry runs a Sausalito–San Francisco route, and Highway 101 is the road link north and south.

Selling a floating home in Sausalito

The Floating Home Residency Law protects your right to sell in place. Management can’t require the home to be removed because you’ve sold it to a third party while your rental agreement is in effect (section 800.84).

Signs: you may post a for-sale sign in a window or on the side facing the dock or water, up to 24 by 18 inches, with your or your agent’s name, address and phone number (section 800.80).
Fees: management can’t charge a transfer or selling fee unless it performs a service you’ve requested in writing, and can’t charge a buyer a residency approval fee except for a credit check (section 800.83).
Buyer approval: you or your agent must notify management of the sale before it closes. Management can’t withhold approval from a buyer who can pay the rent and charges, may reject a buyer it reasonably finds won’t follow the rules based on prior tenancies, and must give you its reasons in writing (section 800.85).
Paperwork: gather the HCD title, permits and any exception approvals, the berth agreement and rules, utility bills and the most recent float survey.

Pricing needs comparable floating home sales, not house sales; berth terms and fees can move value as much as square footage. See our guide to selling a home in Marin County for our process.

Questions people ask

Do you own the water or berth when you buy a Sausalito floating home?

No. You own the floating home and rent the berth from the marina under a written agreement, so the berth’s terms and fees are part of what you’re buying.

Is Waldo Point Harbor in the City of Sausalito?

No. Waldo Point Harbor is in unincorporated Marin County, though homes there use Sausalito addresses. Marin County zones its docks for floating home marinas and applies the county’s floating home standards.

Can I get a mortgage on a floating home?

Usually not a standard one. Fannie Mae treats houseboats as non-real-estate property, so buyers typically pay cash or borrow from a portfolio or specialty lender willing to lend in that marina.

Who issues the title for a floating home?

HCD’s Registration and Titling program issues titles and registrations for floating homes, as it does for manufactured homes, and offers an online title search.

Do floating home owners pay property tax?

Yes. State law says a floating home is assessed in the same manner as real property, so expect a county tax bill and reassessment when you buy.

Can the marina make me move the home if I sell it?

Not because of the sale, while your rental agreement is in effect. The marina can reject a buyer only on the grounds the law allows, and must explain a rejection in writing.

Can I enlarge or rebuild my floating home?

Possibly, but expect permits. In unincorporated Marin a home over the county’s height, length or floor area standards needs a Floating Home Exception, and work in the Bay or shoreline band generally needs a BCDC permit.

Is a floating home the same as a waterfront house?

No. A waterfront house in Belvedere or Tiburon sits on land you own; compare our Belvedere and Tiburon guides for that kind of property.

When you’re ready to look at floating homes or sell one, we can pull the berth agreement, permits and title and line up the right inspections. Contact us to start, or explore more of the county with our Marin County real estate guide and Marin buyer representation.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; talk to a California real estate attorney or tax adviser about your situation.

Sources & notes

Lender programs and marina berth fees weren’t verified for this page, so no rates or fees are stated. The live search results for this page’s keywords weren’t reviewed before drafting.

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.