April

There’s an interesting breeze blowing in Lake Geneva today. It stormed the other day. And then it stormed again a day later. And then it stormed a bit more. Once … Read more

Aspen Lakefront Realty

I suppose my lifelong love of Aspen started last March when I visited for Spring Break. In Aspen, we capitalize Spring Break, because it is nearly everything to us. And … Read more

556 Sauk Trail

Entry level lakefront homes at Lake Geneva tend to have consistent attributes. The attributes we love are those perfect white piers, and that meandering shore path at the water’s edge. … Read more

Lake Geneva Top Agent

I am very tired of telling everyone about how many houses I’ve sold. It’s nauseating, really. I have no idea where the balance is between making sure everyone knows that … Read more

Categories Uncategorized

This Winter

I’m not sure if it’s this winter, or just winter in general, but it no longer bothers me. It’s different. It’s cold, but is it bitter? Bitterly cold, that’s what … Read more

2023

You probably already know I struggle with oversharing on this blog once in a while. That’s why I’ve written about that time I noticed my toenails were less than they … Read more

Happy New Year

From my family to yours, best wishes for a peaceful, healthy, prosperous new year. Any year that starts with my family healthy and ends with them healthy is a pretty … Read more

1991

There aren’t very many things that I can do today that make me feel like I did when I was young. When I was young, I mowed lawns. Lots of … Read more

Happy Holidays

I’d like to say Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas and also Happy New Year, but how can that fit in the title spot? And if it did fit, how would … Read more

Demands

Demands Summer asks too much of me. It doesn’t let me be. It tells me that five o’clock is the time to start something. To go into the water or … Read more

Pier Guy

My wife tells me I should worry less. She tells me that it doesn’t matter what the forecast says. But next Thursday is a high of 26 and a low … Read more

Seasonality

Many years ago I rented a condo on Siesta Key. My son was a baby and my business was seasonal, so it made good sense to spend most of the … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

Remember when I told you I was going to write about the things I’m thankful for? I was going to work on being grateful. I was going to really, really … Read more

RIP

Well, my least favorite buyer has died. I don’t usually write about fatalities here, because it’s morbid and in spite of my fatalistic worldview, I prefer to keep this site … Read more

Idle Hands

If I’ve accomplished nothing else in my life, I’ve certainly succeeded in identifying the many reasons people buy Lake Geneva vacation homes. I’ve rambled about gibberish, tried incredibly hard to … Read more

Knocking

There’s a summer wind blowing through my October window again. It shouldn’t be, but it is. And it’s not really blowing. It’s knocking. It’s pulsing. And the curtain is dancing … Read more

Villa Hortensia Sells

One of the interesting things about cliches is that they only become cliches because they’re used very often. And one of the reasons they’re used very often is because they’re … Read more

Burr Oaks Farm Sells

In case you couldn’t tell, this was a really special property. I was proud to represent this lovely seller and their stunning farm. Sometimes selling a property isn’t an easy … Read more

Lake Geneva Market Update

I’m bored with this market. That’s why I haven’t been writing as much as I’d like to. Boredom. But it’s more than boredom, it’s irritation. That’s it, bored irritation. The … Read more

Lake Geneva Condo

Does anyone want to be my neighbor? I’ve listed one of the upper two bedroom condominiums at my 323 Broad Street building, and as you can see from these photos, … Read more

Hey Jealousy

I declared it to be the finest place I have ever visited. No, more than that. The finest property I have ever seen. The finest of everything at any time … Read more

Prolific

On the edge of my property, well beyond where the grass turns to prairie and after the prairie turns to a forest, if you can call it that, I have … Read more

Sales Trends

If a condo sells because a buyer wasn’t particularly well informed, does this mean every condo should be priced based on the cemented reality of that one sale? If a … Read more

Mr. Complacent

I’m complacent. I can feel it. I still turn over every rock and sweat out every deal, that part of me will never fade. It’ll kill me, but it won’t … Read more

Where

So where would you rather be, he said. If you didn’t have to be here, where would you live? If you had to choose a place, tell me where. There … Read more

Market Discussion

When I talk about the mood of the market, what exactly am I talking about? What is the market? The Market. It’s a meeting of the minds. A disagreement. A … Read more

Vista Del Lago

There can only be one front row, and at Vista Del Lago that’s building One. The rarest offering in Vista is now available with expansive lake views reaching all the … Read more

Sioux Drive

Many a painter, poet and writer have found inspiration in small stone cottages tucked away in a quiet landscape. And for good reason, since our surroundings influence our moods and have … Read more

Birds and Feathers

I arrived at my office this morning and read a comment from some person I don’t know who suggested I’m a “chubby bitch” with size 44 pants, which is, in … Read more

Contagion

If you were a buyer in 2002 and you called me to look for an entry level lakefront home, we would have been able to secure private frontage between $900,000 … Read more

Burr Oaks Farm

Calm isn’t something we come by naturally. Life is chaotic, frenzied, complicated. It’s a whirlwind of harried navigation between the things that must be done and the things we’d like … Read more

These Days

I spend most of my time wondering how Jackson Browne could write this song when he was just 16 years old. I remember being 16 years old. I had a … Read more

Lake Geneva Market Update

It’s summer 2022 and the lakefront market at Lake Geneva is behaving itself. New inventory is hard to find and existing inventory has been picked over. So what’s next?

Gross

One of the things I most dislike about real estate mania is the mania part. I want real estate to make sense. I want pricing to make sense. I want … Read more

Seller’s Remorse

I contend that it would be impossible to sell a home that you loved without experiencing a considerable degree of seller’s remorse. Why wouldn’t you feel this way? How could … Read more

Categories Uncategorized
Lake Geneva Real Estate Market Update

Lake Geneva Fireworks

If this blog was about my neighbors, and I was tasked with telling you when their firework celebrations were to occur, I would fail miserably. There are myriad reasons why … Read more

Ban

I think everyone knows how I feel about pontoon boats. In case you don’t know, I hate them. That’s not to say that I don’t understand them, it’s just that … Read more

Pier 290

I’m grateful for the dull things in life. For the way I feel when I go to the hardware store and buy two furnace filters and a small pack of … Read more

Tops

I’m well aware that people grow tired of having me talk about sales volume. It’s tedious and annoying, I agree. I think that maybe I’ll stop talking about it, but … Read more

Tell

If a house is listed for sale and then, a short while later, the price is dramatically reduced, what does that tell you? I view this as an admission of … Read more

Dissent

I’ve been bothered by a comment that was made on this site recently, and I feel the need to discuss it further. The comment implied that my job as an … Read more

Rain

It rained again yesterday. It would have come as a surprise to me, but it rained a bit two days before that as well. And last weekend we had some … Read more

Benches

I’ve spent much of the last twenty years working on a theory that suggests the only people who sit on park benches are old men. I was driving a month … Read more

Lake Geneva For Sale

Gratitude

I’m not one of those people who have trouble saying thank you. I say it all of the time. I say it when someone refills my water at a restaurant, … Read more

The Wall Street Journal

Imagine writing an article on the 1982 baseball season with a specific focus on stolen bases and not interviewing Ricky Henderson. That’s what the freelancers at the Wall Street Journal … Read more

World Wide Web

In 1995 I owned a Saab 900. It was gunmetal gray, but it wasn’t a Turbo, so I operated as though those two conditions canceled each other out. I owned … Read more

The stunning pastels of a Lake Geneva spring

Finally

I feel better now. I was on the verge of breaking, but in true Midwest fashion I powered through the difficult days knowing that there were better days around the … Read more

Pricing Strategy

One of the great debates in the business of real estate revolves around pricing strategy. Some agents want listings so bad they’ll price a listing wherever the seller wishes to … Read more

April

When I was in high school, a friend of mine had a girlfriend named April. She had curly hair and tanned skin and braces, I think. She went to another … Read more

Short The Market

There are many reasons that I’m worse at my job than I otherwise could be. One reason is that I really don’t like working on the weekends. It’s a pretty … Read more

My Friend Eric

I have a friend named Eric that you probably don’t know. I met Eric when we were both in the sixth grade attending a small church in Williams Bay. We … Read more

Categories Uncategorized

Crypto

We’re happy to announce that We Are Now Accepting Bitcoin For Payment, the sign read. We also accept Ethereum and Dogecoin and ADA and Shibu. In fact, we accept every … Read more

Herbs

Herbs The gas station in our town is called Herb’s. I should say, it was called Herb’s. It might have been called something else even when I thought it was … Read more

The Cottage

The first time I ever saw the cottage I don’t think I noticed it. I drove by it and kept driving, oblivious to the obsession that would soon find me. … Read more

Something Else

There’s something wrong with you, she said. I know, I said.  The Johnson deal is in trouble.  Not because it should be, but because it just is. The deal is … Read more

The Rink

In the winter the town would flood the gravel parking lot to give the locals a place to ice skate.  Sure the lake was full of ice, but this rink … Read more

Bridges

I was down at that bridge again. It was dark and it was rainy and that’s why I was there. Young couples put on their prom best and stand on … Read more

Whataboutisms

The frothy whip of the real estate market has improved the lives and wellbeing of many, and in that list of many I include my own life and the lives … Read more

Low Grade

What if some houses are actually terrible? What if certain houses were built by people who shouldn’t have been allowed to pick any tile, flooring, cabinets, light fixtures, paint colors, … Read more

Sand

Thinking about buying a home in the islands? Just say no.

Merry Christmas

It’s strikingly obvious to me that without my clients and friends, my family would not be so uniquely blessed. For that, I am exceedingly thankful and appreciative. There’s a lot … Read more