Homes in Ross do not sit. Over the three months ending May 2026, the median sale price in town reached $4.8 million, up 42.6 percent from the same stretch a year earlier, and the typical listing found a buyer in about ten days. A five-bedroom on Skyland Way, built in 1938, closed in ten days this past April at 24 percent over its asking price. A three-bedroom on Wellington Avenue, built in 1945, closed in September 2025 after just seven days on market. This is what a seller's market looks like when the town spans two miles and active inventory rarely climbs into double digits.
None of that speed changes what happens underground. The pipe that carries wastewater from a Ross house to the public sewer main runs on its own schedule, one set by the Ross Valley Sanitary District, and that schedule does not accelerate just because the house above it sold in a week and a half.
The rule most out-of-town buyers have never heard of
Ross falls under the Ross Valley Sanitary District, which also covers Larkspur, San Anselmo, Fairfax, and unincorporated pockets of Kentfield, Greenbrae, and Sleepy Hollow. Following a 2013 order from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board to address aging infrastructure that was letting rainwater seep into the sewer system, RVSD phased in a Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance. Most of it took effect July 1, 2014. The piece that matters most to anyone buying or selling a home, the requirement tied to property sales, became effective January 1, 2015.
Under that ordinance, a property owner needs a Certificate of Compliance from RVSD when any of three things happen: the property sells, a remodel exceeds $75,000, or a bathroom gets added. A licensed contractor runs a camera down the lateral, and if it fails, that contractor pulls a permit, completes the repair, and schedules a pressure test that a district inspector has to witness in person before a certificate gets issued. Once earned, the certificate holds for 20 years.
Here is the detail that changes how this rule actually behaves in a market moving as fast as Ross's: the certificate does not need to exist before escrow closes. The district's own compliance process gives whoever accepts the responsibility 90 days after close of escrow to finish the work, and it leaves the choice of who that is, buyer or seller, to be settled in the purchase contract.
Why a 90-day window feels different in a ten-day market
In a market where homes linger for months, a 90-day post-close window is a courtesy. There is time to negotiate, time to schedule a contractor, time to decide who is better positioned to absorb the cost. In Ross, where a well-priced house can go from new listing to signed contract before most other markets finish their first open house, that same window collapses into something else. Offers are often due within days of a listing going live. Nobody has time to camera a sixty-year-old clay pipe, get a report back, and negotiate around actual findings before the offer deadline.
What tends to happen instead is that the compliance obligation gets assigned in the contract as a line item, sometimes with a credit attached, before anyone has actually looked at the pipe. The 90-day window that was built to give parties room to work through a known problem ends up being used to defer looking at the problem at all.
Why the paperwork trail is thinner than the price tag suggests
Look at the ages behind some of Ross's fastest recent sales. The home on Skyland Way was built in 1938. The one on Wellington Avenue dates to 1945. A four-bedroom on Lagunitas Road that sold in ten days this past May was built in 1948. A home on Shanley Lane that sold in July 2025 after seven days on market was built in 1947. These are not outliers. They reflect a town where a meaningful share of the housing stock predates modern plumbing materials by decades, which means a meaningful share of the private laterals underneath these homes are still the original clay or cast iron pipe from that era.
Pair that with the certificate's 20-year validity and a sale-trigger that only started counting in 2015, and a real gap opens up. A property that has not sold, remodeled past $75,000, or added a bathroom since the rule took effect may have no certificate on file at all, not an expired one, simply none. Anyone can call RVSD directly at 415-259-2949 to check whether a specific address has passed a final district inspection within the last 20 years, but for a lot of older Ross homes, that call comes back with nothing to report.
What changed this year
RVSD adjusted its financial assistance for this exact scenario. Effective May 1, 2026, the district raised its lateral-replacement grant to as much as $3,000 and expanded its loan program to provide up to $60,000 for qualifying complex projects, subject to district approval. Both are worth knowing before assuming a seller has to absorb the full repair cost alone. One detail matters for anyone buying a home where a prior owner used this program: district loans are nontransferable, and any unpaid balance has to be resolved at the time the property sells, which means it belongs on the pre-listing checklist right alongside the inspection itself.
What this actually means if you are on either side of the table
For a seller, the practical move is to get ahead of the camera inspection before the sign goes in the yard rather than after an offer arrives. In a market where homes routinely go pending within a week or two, there usually is not enough runway to camera the line, secure a permit, complete a repair, and pass a district pressure test before a buyer expects an answer. Getting ahead of it looks like this:
- Call RVSD at 415-259-2949 to check whether the property already has a valid certificate on file.
- If it doesn't, or if the certificate has aged past its 20-year window, hire a licensed contractor for a camera inspection before listing, not during escrow.
- If repair is needed, ask about RVSD's grant of up to $3,000 and loan program of up to $60,000 before defaulting to a full-cost credit in the contract.
- If a previous owner financed lateral work through the district, confirm the loan balance is cleared at closing rather than assumed away.
For a buyer, the useful question to ask a listing agent is not whether the property is "in compliance." It is whether a current certificate exists, with a date, signed by a district inspector, sitting in a file somewhere. Those are two different answers, and only one of them holds up 90 days after the keys change hands.
A few questions worth settling before you sign anything
Do I have to finish the sewer lateral compliance work before my Ross home closes escrow? No. RVSD's ordinance gives whoever takes on the responsibility 90 days after close to complete it. What does need to be settled before closing is who that responsible party is, in writing, as part of the purchase contract.
How do I find out if my property already has a certificate? Call RVSD directly at 415-259-2949. Certificates are valid for 20 years, so any Ross property that has not sold, added a bathroom, or completed a remodel over $75,000 since January 1, 2015, may not have one on file at all.
Does this rule apply everywhere in Marin? No. RVSD's boundaries cover Ross, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Fairfax, and portions of Kentfield, Greenbrae, and Sleepy Hollow. Neighboring sanitary districts run comparable point-of-sale rules with their own fees and timelines, so a certificate history that applies to a Ross address does not automatically apply a few miles away.
A fast market rewards preparation more than it punishes it. If you're weighing a sale in Ross, or trying to understand what sits behind a listing price before you write an offer, Daniel Nebenzahl can walk through what a specific property's paperwork trail actually looks like, well before the 90-day clock becomes your problem to manage. Request your home valuation to start that conversation.
