If I was a shy sort of guy, I probably wouldn’t be selling real estate. Even if I was shy, and I sold real estate, I probably wouldn’t blab about my life on a blog that has been viewed roughly 60,000 times during this past year. The truth is, self promotion is a requirement of the real estate profession, in much the same way that it’s a requirement in nearly all self employed endeavors. And so, with that meek disclaimer out of the way, I must now run verbose on all the sales that I was blessed to have completed during this spectacular year.
January is usually a cold, slow month for me, and even though 2010 was packed with activity, January lived up to its reputation as my worst month. I don’t like January, and January doesn’t like me. In fact, I hadn’t sold anything during November or December of 2009 either, so by the time January of 2010 arrived on the scene, I was already on a two month losing streak. January, I hate you.
February, I also hate. And February of 2010 was no exception. I didn’t sell anything in February either. I don’t want to talk about it. The losing streak was now at four whole months, which I’d like to put in perspective by suggesting you forfeit your paycheck for the next four months and see how wonderful it feels. There’s some fuzzy math in the national unemployment number, and it comes to light during paragraphs like this. Even though I was employed, I was doing a terrific job at not selling anything. My offspring’s previously plump bellies were shrinking by the day.
March was better, though only marginally. I sold an old cottage in the Loch Vista Club for $373k, which was a much needed and wildly appreciated sale. I was also active during March with several lakefront buyers, and while those buyers wouldn’t make my March any better, they would figure mightily into the remainder of my year. I also wrote about how I hate March right here, and then March turned out to be decent. March, I’m sorry.
April was strange, as Aprils tend to be. I wrote a couple contracts in April, including one on a property at Clearsky Lodge. That sale was a battle, as two buyers were fighting over one very unique property. This home would go under contract to my buyer for $2.475MM, and would officially begin my obsession with greenhouses. I’m sad to report that nearly 8 months after this obsession took root deep inside my soul, I have not made any strides at locating or purchasing my own greenhouse. Patience. I closed on a magnificent home on Lake Como for $1.050MM, and was pleased to see a young couple from the suburbs find their own piece of waterfront utopia. The house, by the way, would have been at least $3.5MM on Geneva, so the discounted price obviously took into account the lesser quality lake. On the last day of April I closed on a small ranch in Fontana on the corner of Brickley and South Lakeshore Drive for $225k. It was the first summer home for a couple from Chicago, and they couldn’t have been happier. April was a wonderful month.
May would be a terrific month, and not just because of my birthday. I had made a pledge to fish more with my son, and May provided plenty of opportunities and plenty of fishy reward. I closed on the Clearsky property, wrote a contract on my Harvard Club listing, wrote a contract on a Lake Geneva Club listing, and wrote a contract on the property at 1014 S. Lakeshore Drive that was listed at $6.95MM. My head was spinning with even more nervous energy than it usually spins with, and when this contract finally came together over Memorial Day weekend, it was the thrill of my real estate life. I listed and negotiated a contract on a fabulous three bedroom lakefront unit at Fontana Shores for $456k, which was the first and last sale since I closed on a three bedroom unit there in October of 2009.
The Harvard Club deal that I worked on in May, sputtered in June but didn’t fall apart. I worked on keeping together deals at the Lake Geneva Club, and the Harvard Club, and kept close watch over my precious lakefront sale. June was a terrific month, and with warming waters and clear skies, it was a great month to be at Lake Geneva. Then again, every month is a great month to be at Lake Geneva so who am I kidding. Oh, and the Lake Geneva Club deal closed on the last day of June for $505k. It was a terrific deal for a vintage cottage with a slight view of the lake and deep water slip.
July hosted the closing of the coveted Harvard Club cottage, and at $475k that property was a deal no matter how you slice it. The property is a cash only co-op which limits the buying pool, but it was still an outstanding buy for the couple that hung in there through three months of delays and closed on the cottage. That couple is up this week with their family enjoying skiing and all sorts of winter activities at the lake. Just so long as they get their fill before it rains on Friday, I think they’ll be in luck. I fished a lot in July. I swam a lot too. I boated even more. I caught lots of crayfish with my son. It was a beautiful month, and for the new vacation home owners that had closed earlier in the summer, July was a month to be remembered.
August was epic just because it was August, but it was particularly epic because of my lakefront sale. At $5.885MM it was the most expensive residential single family sale on the lake all year, and I was proud and humbled to have represented the buyer. The sale made my year, which is the understatement of my life. The buyer was gracious and loyal, and this sale was the fourth sale I’ve completed for him at Lake Geneva in the past ten years. My gratitude runs as deep as the basin off Black Point. Aside from that sale, August was a slow month, as it tends to be. I had a feeling that the fall was going to be better, and September and October didn’t let me down.
The fall months found me in the middle of two more lakefront sales, and two more lake access sales. The listing at 556 Sauk Trail closed at $1.313MM to a buyer I was lucky to represent, and my lakefront listing at 6 Upper Loch Vista closed for $1.61MM in December. I listed and sold a rare offering at Belvidere Park for $519k all in the same week, and still feel the privilege of working on a Belvidere Park sale and Harvard Club sale in the same year is the crowning jewel of my 2010. I had toiled for much of the year trying to sell my listing at Hunt Club Lane, and finally closed on that property for a low price of $625k in November. I still feel badly that I wasn’t able to sell that fine home for more money.
Perhaps most importantly, I only sold two homes all year that were not Lake Geneva vacation homes. I enjoy selling vacation homes here, but you may find it strange to know that I have no interest in selling non-vacation homes. If I had to sell homes in East Troy for a living I wouldn’t have lasted a week. Yet fourteen and a half years into my Lake Geneva vacation home marathon, I enjoy every second of it, particularly when years like 2010 roll around. In total I sold nearly $18MM worth of real estate this year, which I guess would put me in the top four or five agents for the entire county. Regardless of how knowledgeable I might be when it comes to Lake Geneva real estate, a year like this wouldn’t be possible without the customers who put their trust in me. I am profoundly grateful, and excited to try to do it all again next year. To the families that purchased vacation homes from me this year, I wish you many generations of fun at the lake. If the lake ends up having as much impact on you as it has had on me, then my job will have been even more rewarding.