David Curry

Two weeks ago, the ice was really something. It was thick, strong, proud. There was enough snow on top so that snowmobiles could race across it. Snowshoers were pleased to … Read more

If this civilization wasn’t so advanced, and we didn’t already know what we liked and what we didn’t like, we’d have to do some testing. If we were hunters not … Read more

In the early spring of 2010, I had a questionable idea. I thought I’d take some of these rambling blog posts that I call “stories” even though they lack a … Read more

In the fall of 2008, the world melted. In the spring of 2009, the market bottomed. In the fall of 2009, all hope that this cycle would be slight and … Read more

There’s a difference between building something for the market and building something for yourself. That’s obvious. If your 3 year old daughter loves Barney, you could build her a purple … Read more

My boat isn’t such a good boat. Four years ago, when I found its picture on the internets, it wasn’t such a good boat then, either. But when it arrived … Read more

I enjoy the marketplace positioned at the end of any given driveway. It’s a place for garbage, gifts, and sales, depending on the day. For instance, if you had a … Read more

After two more months and some handful of extra days, I will turn 37. That age doesn’t seem so bad to me. It seems youngish. For that sort-of-young-age, I have … Read more

If you buy a car that, after some days or weeks or months or years, you decide that you do not like, you trade it in on a different car. … Read more

I like to make comparisons. For example, I compare our lake to other lakes. This is no comparison, really, but to say it’s no comparison is to utter a figure … Read more

I was in the city this weekend. It was a nice time, in that big city, and I enjoy the change of scenery when tall buildings replace wide fields. Hustle … Read more

I made a pretty big mistake last week. If it was a mistake or an omission, who could tell? But it was a mistake, of sorts, either that or a … Read more

I chopped wood yesterday. I chopped wood the day before, too. I don’t chop wood because I have to, but I chop wood because I like to. It makes me … Read more

In 1992, a nice couple whom I have never met, bought a small condominium in Geneva National. Geneva National was new, shiny, and full of promise. Buyers found this product … Read more

I drive around Wisconsin often. I drive around Lake Geneva, which is, if you were to ask my kids, what I do for my job. I drive. But I drive … Read more

George Strait didn’t ask politely, so I’m not sure why, if he didn’t, I would. He said run, or drive in a straight line. He said break speed limits, take … Read more

I sell real estate. I have a stable of much-appreciated clients who hail exclusively from Chicago and those burbs that describe themselves as being Chicago when they meet people who … Read more

Seeking a warmer sun and consolation for our winter condition, we boarded a series of planes and landed in a country to our south, far from the cold and the … Read more

Otto Young was born in Prussia in the year 1844. He moved to London, then to New York. He made his fortune in Chicago, and in 1901 he built his … Read more

The second home I ever bought was a small cottage on Kinzie, just up that Fontana road from the lake. I spent many hours there, indiscriminately sawing and chopping, hammering … Read more

Yes, it’s nice that 24 lakefront homes sold in 2014. That’s a good number, a strong number, one that we should all be proud of. We should congratulate one another, … Read more

I have spent plenty of time living inside high rise condominiums. I haven’t lived in one in Walworth County, nor have I lived in one in Cook. But I have … Read more

The lake was there, right where it is now, when I was a child the same age as my son is now. The lake back then was big, and it … Read more

It almost feels unnecessary to write a year end update about the South Shore Club. I know I’ve written about it often, steadily, so much that it might be too … Read more

Siberia has no palm trees. I’ve never been there, but I’ve read about it in magazines, and I’ve watched videos about there, the sorts that take Patagonia clad fly fisher … Read more

The thing about entry level lakefront is it’s entry level. Because it’s entry level, it’s like anything that’s so aptly labeled. An entry level sedan doesn’t have a heated steering … Read more

The celebrating of the last year and the lamenting of the one now arrived, finally over, it’s time to discuss what this market is doing now and what it’s going … Read more

The profession of real estate selling is rarely considered to be a noble one. Certainly not noble in the way that doctors and researchers and academics are able to consider … Read more

I had intended on writing something profound, or at least something pseudo-profound, but alas, a breakfast meeting went too long and then I remembered that I had loads of Christmas … Read more

You at a desk, three years ago. Your job, to chart a recovery plan for the South Shore Club. You’d need some paper, a pen. Maybe a pencil. Some coffee. … Read more

Sometimes, work is boring. My younger brother works in a forge, where I’ve been told he does all sorts of things, but mostly he stands in place and punches in … Read more

The articles that grace the front page of the Chicago Tribune’s Real Estate section are generally not the sort of articles that one would want to put on the front … Read more

Ah, the unique, uncaged animal that is the upper bracket of real estate. Upper Bracket varies in definition, but it’s easy to assume that it means the top of the … Read more

Her life is not without inconsistencies. On one hand, she’ll push back if you try to push her off your side of the bed. She’ll snap at you if you … Read more

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 … Read more

Last night, after watching a show that promised me I would see a man be eaten alive by a giant snake, I couldn’t sleep. Not because I was upset about … Read more

I’ve gotten a bit lazy in checking foreclosures. I’ve gotten a bit lazy in lots of things, so this one thing shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but it … Read more

If we’re looking back, as I’m fond of doing, 2009 was a really bad time to list your house. There were buyers, sure, but there was mostly just chaos. In … Read more

Everything was going as planned. Thanksgiving dinner featured a juicy, perfectly cooked bird- a rarity in a Curry household that excels at baking but tends to err on the side … Read more

Remember when I said I liked the Aspen Lane sale at $498k? Remember when I said that the main reason I liked it was because the location afforded privacy, and … Read more

There’s a foreclosure in the South Shore Club. This is the one I’ve been telling you about for quite some time, and now it’s here. The prior owner of this … Read more

To be fair, the axe was never truly intended to be used this way. It’s made by The Best Made Company in Tribeca, where the men are skinny and their … Read more

I get asked lots of things. For instance, people say, why haven’t you updated your photo on your website? In response I tell them that I don’t feel like it. … Read more

Times were, late October had its own feel. Outside, it had a feel, sure, but that’s temperature related and not real estate related. Except back then, those two things were … Read more

Once, there was a group of people who decided that they no longer wished to be taxed for the sake of being taxed. If they ran their own towns and … Read more

I hope by now you’ve figured out there’s a difference in the way I sell, and promote, real estate. I have, at any given time, plenty of listings. Right now, … Read more

I think we need to establish a few rules today. These are very simple rules, but they have been confounding the market for a long time. Buyers mostly present in … Read more

The salmon run. They run up streams in Michigan and in Indiana and Minnesota. They run up streams in Ohio and New York. They run from salty oceans and up … Read more

The American real estate story, as told from the mid 1990s through today, could very easily be told not through lots and lots of words, but simply through reading the … Read more

There’s a website operated by one of my competitors that lists a billion things to do in Lake Geneva. I’m sure it’s helpful. I, too, fall into the trap of … Read more

The people who make cars make them in silver and black and white and red. Most of the cars on the road fall under one of those four schemes. Is … Read more

In the spring of 2012, I bought this ten acre lot. In the spring of 2013, I finished construction on this home, that sits atop the small hill on this … Read more

I’m old enough now that I don’t remember going back to school. I remember it in the high school context, what it was like to wear the new clothes and … Read more

Early this year, I wasted a whole bunch of time putting, and then keeping, together a deal on a lakefront listing of mine. After deadlines were met and dates were … Read more

I don’t recall being all that impressed with the sky in Big Sky Country. It was a sky, sure, but it didn’t look any bigger to me than any other … Read more

The last boat study I’m aware of was conducted in 2003. This study looked at Geneva Lake on a number of different levels, including ecosystem issues, farm run-off concerns, invasive … Read more

For the first time all year, my iPhone weatherman shows a forecast with lots of 80 degree temps and even some 90 degree temps. Remember those summer nights from previous … Read more

I have never been to Florida in the summer. The reason for this abstention is because I have all of my faculties about me, and I have increasingly little interest … Read more

I struggle a bit with understanding how the news pundits explain housing. If, for instance, sales are up, then housing is doing well. Yay! If sales are down, housing is … Read more

I suppose it could be said that spring buyers are those with immediacy on their minds. If you search for a home in March, at the tail end of a … Read more

The pool was rather perfect looking. Perhaps one or two groupings of a few individuals hung to its watery edges, but no one was swimming. The life guard was on … Read more

I’m always surprised how many people watch properties. They don’t look at properties, necessarily, but they watch them. They look at them online, they drive by them in person. They … Read more

I have made a habit of taking one teensy tiny vacation per month. It lasts two days. I load my family into the good old family truckster, and we drive … Read more

I was a senior in high school. Around that time, I had taken to using an old leather carryall. It was a soft briefcase with a shoulder strap, and I … Read more

I think if I were a condo buyer, be it in a sweaty city or up here at the lake, I’d prefer to be on a high floor. Not because … Read more

In my mind, I develop all sorts of patterns. I think, this blog should be market updates on Monday, huge departures into gibberish on Wednesdays, and market recaps on Fridays. … Read more

The headline was sensational, the subject near and dear to my cold heart: Zillow Aquires Trulia; Let The Real Estate Hunger Games Begin. So, Zillow and Trulia are on the … Read more

Babies are fed mashed peas. The pea jar is opened, perhaps warmed so that it is warm, but never hot, and then a plastic spoon labeled BPA FREE stirs the … Read more

There are many ways to get caught in the wrong house at the wrong time. Almost all of these are honest means, leaving no fault on the owner who was … Read more

To be a seller in spring, is to be as a youth, full of optimism and energy, a spout of vision that has yet to be set off track by … Read more

If you call your hair cutter lady, or fella, and he or she is on vacation when you call, you ask the receptionist when he/she will return, and then you … Read more

I once had a customer who told me that the Lake Geneva real estate market lags behind the California real estate market, but that everything that happens in California will, … Read more

It seemed to me that if the boat tipped over, I’d be trapped inside the cabin, or worse, under the sail as that sail swung from the sky to the … Read more

My dad will, somewhat famously, hawk anything from the lawn next to our real estate office. There is nothing safe from this side-of-road mentality. He’s sold several John Deere tractors, … Read more

I drove through Lake Geneva yesterday, as I do every day. I drove into town, I stopped at the various lights, and I drove out of town, around the lake, … Read more

Speaking of rising tides, two more lakefront homes just sold this week. One of those homes was sold by yours truly, the other, sadly, by someone else. These two sales … Read more

In the event that you are selling your home in, say, Mobile, Alabama, please pay very close attention. If you’ve had lots of activity, and you just had an offer … Read more

During the year of 2004, Gudrun was the most popular name given in Iceland to newborn baby girls. It also happened to be the name that a pair of first … Read more

He asked if finding 230 makes the game any less fun. His question was meant to imply that there would be no fun in finding these if they were, in … Read more

Foreclosures are like old relatives that live far away. Not the sort that you get birthday cards from, nor the sort that you talk to on the phone every now … Read more

I write lots of words about prices. Pricing. Price. They sounds the same, but they’re different. Pricing, that’s what we do in hopes of encouraging a buyer to offer us … Read more

It was a prophecy without a year attached. There was no target date, no decree that it would be on the year that came so many decades, years, and months … Read more

I admit to being bored with this market. By all accounts, including mine, the market is rather hot. There are pending contracts in every segment of our vacation home market, … Read more

I’m thinking of buying a new boat today. Not some sort of normal, modest boat, but a brand new, super shiny, crazy-fast, prohibitively expensive one. Renters buy normal boats these … Read more

Last winter, I decided to add Netflix to my life. I did this because I, ignorantly, thought that Netflix was a movie genie capable of delivering my cinematic wishes to … Read more

This morning I had a wonderful topic in mind. Well, maybe not wonderful, but at least passable, which is better than the alternative, but still less than wonderful. Anyway, I … Read more

I think it would be fun to write about baseball. Not baseball the game, but baseball the season, the team. To be a beat writer is to be faced with … Read more

If I were to write about those woody things that grow from the ground, those things with bark and branches and leaves, I would probably call them what they are: … Read more

My father has no hobbies. Not a single one. He used to play a bit of golf, but that effort only produced two lasting memories. There was the un-witnessed hole-in-one … Read more

Saturday was a nice spring day. It was so nice, in fact, that I went to the hardware store and bought a trailer hitch ball. It was bright and shiny, … Read more

Someday, I won’t write about the wealth effect. I’ll just write about trees, or fish, or about life and death, probably one or the other, but likely both, on alternating … Read more

There was still snow out there, but really none at all if you compare it to the snow cover from just a few short weeks ago. I found myself near … Read more

I think I can remember the days when pricing real estate was fun. Back then, I could wow and thrill potential customers with the promise of immediate and tangible real … Read more

By now it should be obvious to you; I do not live here and play here because I so deeply love downtown Lake Geneva. In fact, I have taken to … Read more

It was probably January of 2010 when I first hatched this idea. This blog had been doing fine, and some out there found it to be a valuable and quasi-entertaining … Read more

There are many, many things you can do to sell your home. You can put a sign in the yard, because that often works. Or you can hold an open … Read more

There was a little quote on Twitter the other day, attributed to someone anonymous, or at least anonymous to me and to you. She wrote, “okay people who eat popcorn … Read more

After this variety of winter, you’d think I’d welcome the spring. With it comes the sun and the wind, and some warmth that disguises itself as cold when the wind … Read more

Whatever this last weekend was supposed to be- spring, winter, or some hideous spawn of the two- it is thankfully over. This week, whether it finds us warm or cold … Read more