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Tomales, CA Real Estate & Homes for Sale

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

Tomales is a small unincorporated village in the northwest corner of Marin County, California, founded in 1850 and surrounded by agricultural land. Its housing is a small stock of village homes, many from the 1800s, plus the farm parcels around them; ATTOM counts 85 residential properties and puts the estimated median home value at $976,200 (accessed October 2026). Marin County sets the rules, and the village lies inside the state’s coastal zone.

County
Marin County
Government
Unincorporated (county rules, coastal zone)
ZIP code
94971
Sewer
Tomales Village Community Services District
School district
Shoreline Unified
Browse homesDiscuss your search

Tomales homes for sale

Current MLS listings in Tomales and ZIP 94971 appear below. Village homes rarely come up, so most buyers run the property search across Tomales, Dillon Beach and the east shore of Tomales Bay at once.

What do homes in Tomales sell for?

Estimated median home value

$976,200

ATTOM home-value estimate, accessed October 2026

Residential sales in a year

3

ATTOM, accessed October 2026

Marin County median sale price

$1,678,750

September 2026, C.A.R.

Tomales has too few sales for a meaningful median price. ATTOM counts 85 residential properties and only three residential sales in the past year, a window it doesn’t date (its charts end in February 2024), and its $976,200 figure is an estimated median home value, not a closed sale price.

MeasureFigurePeriod and source
Residential properties85, on 20 streetsATTOM, accessed October 2026
Residential sales3 in the past yearATTOM, accessed October 2026
Estimated median home value$976,200ATTOM home-value estimate
Average home size1,533 sq ftATTOM, accessed October 2026
Marin County median sale price, for comparison$1,678,750 (up 1.7% year over year)September 2026, C.A.R.

Each sale here is close to a one-off. For a pricing opinion we pull comparables from the village, Dillon Beach and nearby ranch land, then adjust for acreage, water, septic and the age of the house.

A historic village under county and coastal rules

Tomales grew from a trading settlement into one of Marin’s largest towns. John Keys settled here in 1850, on the site of the Miwok village of Utumia, beside the creek that still carries his name and flows into Tomales Bay. With William Dutton he opened a trading post about two years later, and ships at Keys Creek carried potatoes, grain, butter and eggs to San Francisco. The North Pacific Coast Railroad arrived in 1875, and by 1900 Tomales was the second-largest town in Marin. The 1906 earthquake left much of it in ruins, and residents rebuilt (Marin History Museum, May 2026). The local history center notes that the narrow-gauge line ran until 1930, that a 1920 fire burned sixteen mostly commercial buildings, and that many village houses date from the 1860s to the early 1880s (Tomales Regional History Center).

Today it’s a village of about 200 people, by the services district’s count, with no city government. For a buyer, that means old buildings whose permit records may be incomplete, and Coastal Development Permit review for many projects on them.

  • Old houses: ask for the permit history, and have the foundation, wiring and any additions inspected. For anything built before 1978, the seller owes you the federal lead-based paint disclosure, and you get 10 days to test for lead unless you waive it (U.S. EPA).
  • Coastal zone: Tomales is one of the ten unincorporated communities in the county’s coastal short-term rental amendment, and the Local Coastal Program in effect since July 13, 2021 applies to development through Coastal Development Permit review (California Coastal Commission).

Ranch land, dairies and farmland easements

The land around Tomales is working agricultural land, and some of it is permanently protected from development. The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), founded in 1980, holds 99 agricultural conservation easements covering 59,028 acres. Its most recent, closed on March 20, 2026, protects the 110-acre Tunnel Hill Ranch, which MALT calls the Tomales gateway property (MALT, October 2026).

A MALT easement is permanent and runs with the land, so its recorded terms, not the listing, govern what a new owner can build or divide. Read the easement itself before you write an offer on a protected ranch.

  • Visitor use on farms: Marin’s short-term rental ordinance exempts agricultural homestays and rentals on commercial agricultural parcels of 10 acres or more, but it bars short-term use of farmworker housing (County of Marin).
  • Wells: drilling, destroying or using a well as a home’s water supply each needs a county permit, and the county sets yield and quality standards for domestic wells (County of Marin). Nothing requires a well test at sale, so order one yourself.
  • Grazing leases: ask whether a rancher leases any of the land, and have an existing lease reviewed, since it may bind the new owner.

Sewer, water and septic in Tomales

Inside the village, wastewater goes to the treatment system run by the Tomales Village Community Services District, a small public agency that also runs Tomales Community Park and posts its new-connection process and 2025/26 sewer rates (Tomales Village CSD). The district doesn’t list drinking water among its services, so ask which water system or well serves the house and request its latest water-quality report.

  • Outside the district: ranch and rural homes use septic systems permitted by Marin County Environmental Health Services, which classifies systems from code-complying to undocumented or failing (County of Marin).
  • At sale: the county recommends a septic inspection for a sale but doesn’t require one, and sellers must disclose known septic problems. Order an inspection and pull the county file.
  • Rules in flux: the county is rewriting its septic rules, targeting adoption by the end of 2026, so a repair or addition planned for 2027 may face new standards (County of Marin).

Vacation rentals and county rules in Tomales

Marin County licenses short-term rentals (stays under 30 days) in unincorporated areas, and the Tomales township cap is small: 12 licenses, falling to 11 as licenses lapse (11 in the October 2026 procedures) (Marin County CDA, February 2025).

  • No transfer at sale: a license ends automatically when the property changes hands, so a buyer joins the waitlist rather than taking over the seller’s rental.
  • Tax: Marin’s lodging tax is 10% in most of the unincorporated county and, since January 1, 2019, 14% in its West Marin zone; the county’s Measure W parcel listing shows whether a parcel is in that zone (County of Marin Finance).

For how these rules play out elsewhere in the county, see our guide to Marin County real estate.

Fire protection and hazard checks

Marin County Fire’s Tomales station was rebuilt from the ground up, with room for three engines, water-rescue gear and a five-person wildland crew in fire season under a CAL FIRE contract, and it supports a local volunteer company. The county says it covers the largest area of any Marin County Fire station: Tomales, Marshall, Dillon Beach, Chileno Valley and Tomales Bay, with mutual aid to Two Rock, Bodega Bay and Valley Ford (Marin County Public Works).

  • Fire zone: check the parcel on the State Fire Marshal’s hazard maps, whose zones for state-responsibility land changed effective April 1, 2024. Where the zone is High or Very High, California’s AB 38 rule means the seller hands over a defensible-space inspection done within six months of the sale, or the buyer agrees in writing to get one within a year of closing.
  • Defensible space: state law requires homeowners to keep a 100-foot defensible-space zone (Marin County Fire), which on a ranch house surrounded by dry grass is real annual work.
  • Insurance: request quotes as soon as you’re in contract; on rural parcels, availability can decide the deal.

Schools, transit and daily life

Tomales is the headquarters of the Shoreline Unified School District, at 10 John Street, which runs Tomales Elementary, Tomales High School and Bodega Bay School across the Sonoma County line. School assignments go by address, so check a specific property with the district office.

Tomales Community Park, run by the services district, is the village’s public park; the district calls it a regional asset for northwest Marin. Highway One runs through the village, where it meets Tomales–Petaluma Road, and a car is the practical way to get around. The one scheduled public service is the Marin Access Dillon Beach / Tomales Shuttle, a curb-to-curb ride to Petaluma on Wednesdays only, booked ahead, and the West Marin Stagecoach routes don’t list Tomales (Marin Transit, October 2026).

Tomales Point is a different place

Searches for homes “near Tomales Point” usually mean the national park. Tomales Point is inside Point Reyes National Seashore and was the park’s first tule elk reintroduction site, in 1978; the 4.7-mile Tomales Point Trail starts near historic Pierce Point Ranch (National Park Service). It’s parkland, not a place to buy a house. The private markets closest to the bay are Tomales village and the shoreline communities of Marshall and Inverness.

Tomales compared with nearby areas

AreaGovernmentOne verified difference
TomalesUnincorporated Marin, coastal zoneVillage sewer district; vacation-rental cap of 12, falling to 11
Dillon BeachUnincorporated Marin, coastal zoneCal Water supply and an Oceana Marin sewer; rental cap of 125, rising to 204
MarshallUnincorporated Marin, coastal zoneOn the east shore of Tomales Bay, with its own onsite wastewater zone; rental cap of 28, falling to 27
Valley FordUnincorporated Sonoma CountySonoma County rules; its village well had a state nitrate warning in 2017
Bodega BayUnincorporated Sonoma CountyPublic water and sewer from the Bodega Bay Public Utility District; Redfin median $1,749,167 (September 2026)

How Diamond Real Estate Group helps Tomales buyers

Buying around Tomales means reading documents most buyers never see: the septic file, the well permit, any recorded conservation easement, grazing leases and the coastal permit history. We pull those early, check the fire zone and the rental cap if income matters, and price comparables on land and water, not square footage alone.

Selling a home in Tomales

Tomales is an unincorporated village, so building, coastal and septic records come from Marin County, while the village sewer belongs to the Tomales Village Community Services District. We found no county resale report a seller must order. That puts the effort into the file you hand buyers, and most of their questions follow from the age of the houses and the farmland around them.

Village homes

  • Lead paint. For a house built before 1978, federal rules require the EPA lead pamphlet, your disclosure of what you know, copies of any lead reports, and a 10-day window for the buyer to test unless they waive it. Our lead-based paint disclosure guide covers the forms.
  • Plumbing fixtures. California also requires a written disclosure of whether the home still has noncompliant, non-water-conserving plumbing fixtures.
  • Permit history. Gather county permits for additions and for foundation, wiring or plumbing upgrades. Where the record is thin, say so in the disclosures rather than letting an inspector find the gap.
  • Sewer service. The district operates the village wastewater treatment system and posts its 2025/26 sewer rates. A recent bill shows a buyer the ongoing cost; confirm with the district office that the parcel is connected.

Ranch and rural parcels

  • Outside the district, the home relies on an onsite system. Search the county’s septic archive for the permit and class. An alternative system needs an annual operating permit and professional monitoring, a cost the buyer takes on.
  • Order a preliminary title report early so any conservation easement, grazing lease or other recorded agreement is disclosed with everything else.
  • For a well, collect pump service and water-quality test records.

Fire, rentals and transfer tax

Check the parcel in Marin County Fire’s lookup. In a High or Very High zone, AB 38 documentation goes to the buyer, or the two of you agree it will be done within a year after closing. Tomales has a cap of 11 short-term rental licenses under the county’s October 2026 procedures, and a license expires automatically when the property changes hands.

The only transfer tax is the county’s, $0.55 per $500, so about $1,100 on a $1 million sale. It’s customarily paid by the seller in Diamond’s North Bay markets but stays negotiable; our transfer tax guide explains it. Compare Marin County’s selling requirements, then request a home valuation for a price based on comparable sales.

Sources for this section: Tomales Village Community Services District: Home; Tomales Village Community Services District: Sewer service FAQ and 2025/26 rates; U.S. EPA: Real estate disclosures about potential lead hazards; California Public Law: Civil Code section 1101.4 (water-conserving plumbing fixtures); Marin County Environmental Health Services: Septic systems; Marin County Fire: What is an AB-38 inspection?; California Coastal Commission: Marin County short-term rental LCP amendment exhibits, ordinance text (April 2024); Marin County CDA: Short-term rental administrative procedures (October 2026); Marin County Assessor-Recorder: Fees (documentary transfer tax).

Tomales real estate FAQs

Can I buy a home near Tomales Point?

Not on the point, which is national seashore land where the park’s tule elk were reintroduced. For private homes near the bay, look at Tomales village, Marshall and Inverness.

Is Tomales on Tomales Bay?

It’s tied to the bay by Keys Creek, which flows into it; ships at the creek once carried the village’s farm goods to San Francisco, until silt and the railroad ended that trade. For homes on the bay shore, look at communities such as Marshall.

Is Tomales a city?

No. Tomales is an unincorporated village of about 200 people in ZIP 94971, so Marin County handles planning, building, septic and rental permits. A small special district, the Tomales Village Community Services District, runs the village sewer and park.

What’s a typical home price in Tomales?

There aren’t enough sales for a reliable median. ATTOM estimates the median home value at $976,200 and counts three residential sales in the past year (accessed October 2026), against a Marin County median sale price of $1,678,750 in September 2026 (C.A.R.).

Is the village on sewer?

Village homes are served by the services district’s wastewater treatment system. Ranch and rural homes outside it use county-permitted septic systems, and Marin recommends, but doesn’t require, a septic inspection when a property sells.

Are short-term rentals allowed in Tomales?

Only with a county short-term rental license, and Tomales is capped at 12 licenses, falling to 11. A seller’s license ends at the sale, so you’d join the waitlist. Agricultural homestays and rentals on commercial farm parcels of 10 acres or more are exempt from the licensing rules.

What is a MALT easement?

A recorded agricultural conservation easement held by the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, which has protected 59,028 acres through 99 easements, including the 110-acre Tunnel Hill Ranch, which it calls the Tomales gateway property, in March 2026. The easement stays with the land, so read its terms before you buy a protected ranch.

Which school district serves Tomales?

The Shoreline Unified School District, whose office is in the village. It operates Tomales Elementary and Tomales High here and Bodega Bay School in Sonoma County; the district confirms which school serves an address.

Who provides fire protection?

Marin County Fire, from its rebuilt Tomales station, with support from a local volunteer fire company. The station also covers Dillon Beach, Marshall and Chileno Valley and sends mutual aid into Sonoma County.

Is there public transit to Tomales?

Very little. A reservation-only Marin Access shuttle connects Tomales and Dillon Beach with Petaluma one day a week, on Wednesdays.

Is there a city transfer tax in Tomales?

No. Buyers and sellers here deal only with the county’s documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000, about $1,074 on a $976,200 sale.

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