Lake Geneva Update

I am supremely skilled in spending other people’s money. I get enjoyment out of this exercise, and as the skill plays well into my day job of actually getting other people to spend their money, this is a hobby that I get to practice with regularity. Spending money belonging to someone else is loads of fun, and if you don’t believe me just ask a liberal politician. Anyway, the exercise is a skill and the skill is much fun, and so today I will scour the market in search of properties that I would buy if I had possession of a wallet belonging to someone else. All of that is to say, if I were you, I’d buy this.

It is a great time to be an entry level vacation home buyer. The Lake Geneva market used to be quite unfriendly to the sort of buyer who wanted to spend $200k or less on a vacation home here- at least if that vacation home was to have lake rights. The fact that this market rose in value so much during the 2000s is to blame for vacation loving sorts being led to buy a “vacation” home that didn’t have any lake access. This was unfortunate, but it happened. Today, there is no reason to buy a vacation home that does not have some semblance of private, deeded, lake access. Even if your price point is low (relatively speaking), there are options.

There are four vacation homes priced under $200k on the market today in Country Club Estates. There is another in Indian Hills listed under $200k but that home doesn’t have Indian Hills lakerights, so we’re going to completely and thoroughly ignore it today. This is what punishment looks like, Indian Hills Home That Is Listed As Having Lakerights But Really Doesn’t. If I’m a buyer looking for a pleasant setting with pleasant lakerights in a great Fontana location, I’m looking to spend some of my money in Country Club Estates. This is just the way it is.

But if I’m spending a little more, and looking for something a little bigger or a little better, or a little closer to the lake, I’d consider the listing on Upper Brookwood for $275k. I didn’t much like modern style homes just a few years ago, but now I do. I blame Dwell magazine for this. If I was thinking modern, I’d think of this Brookwood home. The lakefront at Brookwood is impressive, with renovations completed over the past few years. The piers are nice, the diving board springy, and the swim area ample. It’s a solid association.

If the view is what drives me, I’d find myself at my listing near Gage Marine in Summer Haven. Gage, as you likely know, is poised to open their brand new restaurant any day now. This home here ($335k) has been put in a difficult position by this massive restructuring of the marina, but there is now great amounts of light at the end of this tunnel. I think this home sells once Gage is completed, and when it does sell the buyer will have paid very little for a view and a location that should be worth very much.

I always like the Harvard Club and Belvidere Park, so if my budget finds me in the $500k range, I’d find myself knocking at the old screened doors of either of these listings. Incredible locations, incredible history, incredible utility. Sure they’ll both require some updating, but we all do. If I’m in this price range I also like a listing in Trinke’s. That house has a great big chunk of land, some rare privacy, and a slip. There isn’t much I don’t like about it.

From there on, I like a few more homes, but in this market snapshot the true value next exists in the entry level lakefront range. There are homes that have sat on the market for months, if not years. These homes are poised to sell cheap, and while cheap remains a relative term, cheap is still the proper word. The lakefronts, in Cedar Point Park and Indian Hills and one in Lake Geneva look like values to me, and while other lakefronts exist, I prefer to buy my lakefront in a location that can easily support higher valuations down the road. This is why I best like Williams Bay, Lake Geneva, and Fontana when it comes to the entry level lakefront market.

The upper bracket of the lakefront has had solid activity this year, but mostly centered around the upper $2MM to low $3MM mark. There are pending lakefronts at Bonnie Brae, Basswood, and the 700 Club, and all of these sales, once closed, will be great for the lakefront market. Even as these lakefronts sell, there are other lakefronts begging for your attention. Some sellers are reducing their prices, others are not. Some are motivated to sell in 2012, others are not. The trick here is to find the sellers that are motivated and then test just how deep that motivation goes. It’s like drilling for oil, except we’re drilling for savings, and savings are cleaner than fossil fuels.

If you’re too busy to drive up to the lake (I know just how horribly difficult that 80 minute drive is…) perhaps instead just let me pick a place for you. I’ll find a great home, negotiate a great deal, and when you drive up for the first time to see it you’ll be super surprised.