Lots Of Lake Geneva Sales

Business has a way of making the participants feel strange emotions. On one hand, I’m super happy and grateful and excited about having a tremendous year this year, one where I’ve been so incredibly fortunate to close over $25MM in sales. On the other hand, yesterday a whole bunch of properties sold and that makes me sad, and a bit green. It’s not that there shouldn’t be other agents selling the sorts of homes that I like to sell, it’s just that there shouldn’t be other agents selling the sorts of homes that I like to sell. Even so.

There were several sales that printed in the MLS yesterday, and all of them were constructed by someone other than this guy, for my Holiday shame. The first sale, in terms of my Importance Ranking, was on Forest Hill in the South Shore Club. That sale was of a home that I spent a good deal of time talking a buyer into, before that buyer went elsewhere and bought the property. I’m writing down that $1.68MM sale in my Theoretical Sales Column, which now has 2014 additions of a $3MM home in Loramoor, a short sale on Conference Point, a $3.1MM sale in the South Shore Club, and this Forest Hill property.

My immature reaction to the sale aside, it was a nice sale that makes perfect sense. The South Shore Club has three distinct price structures. The homes up front in the Club, those on the water or very near it, are in the $3MM to $3.8MM range. That’s been documented and supported by three sales in the past 30 months. Then, walking away from the lake, there are values in the $2MM to $2.6MM range. Also documented, also supported by solid sales figures from the past two years. Lastly, there are homes in the back, on Forest Hill, those homes allow access to all the divine amenities of the SSC, excepting the promise of a lake view. Remember when the marking materials said that every home in the SSC would have a lake view? Yeah, they lied.

This home is alongside a spec home that sold around $1.65MM, and that home is next door to a home that sold for $1.75MM as a foreclosure several years go. The value of Forest Hill is between $1.65MM and $1.8MM, which is why my listing on that street for $1.849MM should indeed be the next home to sell. With my REO property pending sale at a list of $2.275MM (should be closing this month), my Forest Hill listing is the only game in town. Want to buy in the South Shore Club? I’ll see you at Forest Hill. Or, you could be proactive and email me to explain what exactly you’re looking for, and then I can track it down for you. That, or you could talk to an agent who your mother knows from Tuesday Bridge Club. Either way.

Another lakefront home sold yesterday, that on Sidney Smith Lane for $1.9MM. I don’t like this sale much. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but only when viewed in contrast to the Loramoor lot I sold last week. That lot was 110′ on the lakefront, deep and treed and pretty. It was surrounded by homes valued between $3MM and $5MM. This Sidney Smith property is a tear down by any definition, and the lot has a shared driveway, some sort of shared sidewalk easement thingy, and it is flanked by modest homes. Sidney Smith Lane is a very nice lane, and the drive to the lot may be more redeeming than the lot itself. Loramoor for $2MM or Sidney Smith for $1.9MM? The question must be a Jeopardy style joke.

Next up are two off-water lake access homes. One in Geneva Manor, a couple doors down from my fabulous pool-home that I should have sold in August. Closed at $500k, it’s a nice sale I suppose. I would have rather had my pool house for $940k, but I understand why someone would buy this particular house for that particular price. It’s quaint and it’s cute, and I don’t mind a $500k lake access home there, even if it doesn’t have a slip.

The last sale was on Oriole Lane in Knollwood. I know that home well, as I sold it at the peak of the market for $850k or so. That home came to the open market this past summer, for $900k or so, and when it failed to sell it was reduced and then reduced some more. A brokerage change triggered an extreme price drop, from $800k something to just $650k. It sold right after that price drop, because why wouldn’t it? Is there a particular broker skill that has sellers cut their nose off to leave a property? Of course there is, but I’d have a hard time supposing that a buyer who was motivated to buy at a $650k list wouldn’t have been similarly motivated at a $689k list. The closed price of $615k is fine for our market, and it’s always nice to have volume. The home was cute, well cared for, and had a nice lake view overlooking the Knollwood Park. Good enough for me.

About the Author

I'm David Curry. I write this blog to educate and entertain those who subscribe to the theory that Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is indeed the center of the real estate universe. When I started selling real estate 27 years ago I did so of a desire to one day dominate the activity in the Lake Geneva vacation home market. With over $800,000,000 in sales since January of 2010, that goal is within reach. If I can help you with your Lake Geneva real estate needs, please consider me at your service. Thanks for reading.

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