Most middle class area of Marin (Oakland, San Rafael: real estate, house, purchase)

[AngieFromLA]

I know Marin County and Middle Class are kind of oxymoronic, but essentially my question is...where in Marin County besides Marin City and San Rafael can one purchase a small single home for $700k..even $900k

[shooting4life]

I enjoy 700k to 900k is middle class here in the great state of California.

[thecooler]

Novato is the closest thing to a middle class town in Marin.

[California Vagabond]

I just checked a real estate site to confirm my suspicion: you can hit that price range and lower if you go far enough west of Route 101. Travel to S.F. and the East Bay will become unreasonably difficult for weekday commuters, but: you'll be in Marin, and in your price range.

[NorthCoast707]

Cheaper housing is either in the East bay or further North, even Sonoma County is getting out of hand.

[G Grasshopper]

It is possible to find a small house in that price range in Marin, probably in Novato or possibly some areas of San Rafael. But the house will be older, probably need updating and/or be rather a fixer-upper, and also somewhat old. If this is acceptable to you, I would get a realtor working on it, and be ready to jump when it came up.

[vincent from norcal]

I have family in Fairfax and it's pretty middle class, he is a carpenter and she is a CNA. Lots of their neighbors are SFPD, or city workers.

[vincent from norcal]

San Rafael may be cheaper but that's because from what I hear it's turning into a Mission/East Oakland type barrio.

[NorthCoast707]

San Rafael has some low-middle class areas, pretty much just the canal area, and Novato has a decent sized middle class which seems to be now upper middle. A decent rule is the farther North from SF the cheaper and more middle class it gets. Some areas in West Marin from about Point Reyes Station up north may have a more middle class feel as well, although for newcomers it is very expensive. More middle class in Sonoma County.