At the moment, I’m trying desperately to find a buyer who might want to buy a stunning lakefront estate for a severely discounted price. If you know of any such buyer, please do send them my way. While four million dollar homes are nice, and owning 200′ of lake frontage is a deserving goal to aspire to, today is about the entry level lake access home. Some view this as a humble segment of our market, and those who view it that way would be wrong. Anyone capable of owning a vacation home at Lake Geneva, be it a $200k cottage in Country Club Estates or the aforementioned $4MM lakefront estate, has reached a level of success that most people only dream of, and should be applauded and more importantly, rewarded.
The entry level lake access market has long been a stalwart of our broader vacation home segment. With handfuls of associations offering entry level pricing, there is typically plenty of available inventory for a buyer seeking to spend sub-$500k on a Lake Geneva vacation home. I realize that a buyer seeking a $235k cottage in Knollwood is not generally the same buyer who would be looking at a $499k cottage with a boat slip in Wooddale, but for today the market is one. There is ample inventory and there are homes in this segment that are within sandal walking distance to the lake. A couple are so close that barefoot walks are encouraged.
There are 48 entry level lake access homes on the market today (per MLS). This is a number I arrived at after weeding out the two pending properties (Wilmette in Williams Bay, and one in Country Club Estates), and weeding out a couple properties that agents have listed as possessing lake rights when in reality they do not. I wonder about this phenomenon and question why on earth a buyer would ever work with a broker who doesn’t even understand what lake rights are and what properties have them. I think about buyers making huge financial decisions on the advice of such agents, and I shake my head in disgust. The 48 active homes cut a pretty wide swath, so let’s break this market down by a couple of different criteria.
First off, if you’re in need of a boat slip, this generally isn’t a price range for you. That said, there are two homes in this range with slips- one in Wooddale and one in Glenwood Springs. The Wooddale cottage is small, but with slip and close to the lake, while the Glenwood cottage is similarly small, and the only reason it didn’t sell years ago is because it sits on the south side of South Lakeshore Drive. My new listing on Jewel in Oakwood Estates ($299k) might have a buoy available through the association immediately, and my listing on Upper Loch Vista ($459k) has a possible private buoy rental available for this summer as well. A note about 68 Upper Loch Vista- It’s alarmingly close to the lake, so sandal walks are encouraged. It also has five bedrooms, so if these two and three bedroom cottages aren’t cutting it for you, best come see Upper Loch Vista with me. As a cherry on top of that sale, if you spend your summers in the Loch Vista Club, you’ll get to see me all summer, and at some point I’ll have to swear you to secrecy about the frequency of my days off… Do you really want a broker who works all day and has no clue about the lifestyle and neighborhoods they’re trying to sell you? Me neither.
If you’re not in the mood for a slip, or a buoy, but instead you’re looking for a low purchase price above all else, then Sunset Hills might be for you. I say it might, because it probably won’t be. The problem I have with Sunset Hills does not lie with its proximity to Foley’s, but instead with the state highway (50) dividing the subdivision into two very different parts. The most economical home with lake rights at the moment is on this North side of highway 50- a location that makes me not want to write another word about it. Beyond that, you’ll find a suitable ranch in Country Club Estates for $200k, and several other homes in the sub-$300k bracket including offerings in Knollwood (one of the best lakefront parks on the entire lake), Cedar Point Park, Oakwood Estates, and Indian Hills. Oh, and if you’re looking for REO properties in this segment, there appears to be just one and it’s in Indian Hills. It also has a price that doesn’t look very REO like. It needs to be cheaper.
The bulk of the inventory in this individual segment is priced between $300k and $400k, and there’s one standout at the moment. I showed a new listing in Country Club Estates priced in the $360ks, and I’m a fan. It will sell in the next 10 days, so if you’re looking for a large, newer home on a great street in Country Club at a ridiculous price, you better email me today for the details. If you must be as close to the lake as possible, my listing at 10 Liechty (Summer Haven) priced at $435k is as close as you can get for the money. Previously, my Wilmette cottage was the closest, but one discerning buyer is scheduled to close on that this spring, so you’ll have to move along. There’s nothing to see here.
80 days from today my Lake Geneva summer begins. Consider this an invitation to join me. There is plenty of inventory at the moment, and I’m itching to sell a few of these entry level homes this spring. There’s more than enough time, in fact, your timing couldn’t be better. Let’s get out and beat the bushes for the next couple weeks and negotiate a tremendous deal. Then let’s close it in the middle of May, just in time for you to make a few tweaks and stack those beach towels you’ve been hoarding where they belong- at the lake.