I’ve decided to change the major theme of my magazine. Instead of Summer Homes For City People being a Lake Geneva lifestyle magazine that features writing from yours truly and the finest real estate that this vacation home market has to offer, I’m going to make it more of a game. You see, no matter how hard I try, I make mistakes in the magazine. A period should be followed by a space, I know this, but sometimes in the magazine the errors of cut and paste leave things cramped, like this.And sometimes when a phrase is italicized, the first letter of the following sentence, the letter that isn’t italicized, is. This is terrible, but it happens. Sometimes, the errors are less subtle, sometimes, you miss one digit of a four digit address for one of your favorite listings. Sure, a buyer will find their way to the location and see the sign, but that’s not the point.
Did you know that it’s the year 2016? I know it, too, but there’s one spot in the new issue that would rather you believe it’s 2015. This is the game, find the glaring error and win! What you’ll win I can’t say just yet, because I’ve just now thought of the game, but you’ll definitely win something. This way, when the 2017 magazine is printed, it’ll be exciting, because when you mail in your error submission with a SASE you stand the chance to win something seriously important. In this, the magazine errors won’t look so silly, they’ll just be part of the game, and the game will make the magazine even more important and even more special and then people will say WOW!, this magazine is not only tolerable to read but the game the author created is a hoot. This is what they’ll say.
For now, the magazine is out, and it’s decent. It’s not my best effort I fear, but I’m just one man and sometimes I should have more help. I was delivering magazines on Saturday morning, and then again on Sunday morning, when I noticed that Lake Geneva is in mid-summer form already. It’s May, not even the last of it, and we’re already acting like it’s July. This is important, because a Midwestern summer needs to be stretched to one side or the other, ideally both, otherwise we’re left feeling cheated when the cold October winds blow. If we can get some of May, which we’ve had, and we can get some of October, which we’ve had in prior years, then the summer feels long and it feels important because it is both. Summer in May is a nice phenomenon, which leads us to Dennis Miller’s line on global warming: One man’s global warming is another mans, Hey, it’s nice out!
The market is performing exceptionally well, perhaps as a result of the weather or as a result of interest rates or just as a result of intelligence. The entry level market is on fire, with $250-$550k type homes in Country Club Estates selling with ease. New inventory, aged inventory, it doesn’t seem to matter, it’s selling. The lakefront remains busy, and a new deal on the lakefront at the tippy top of Cedar Point proves buyers don’t mind stairs if they have a view, especially when the price point is in the mid ones. There are other deals, and one that I’ve neglected to mention over recent weeks is a contract on the spec home being built in the Elgin Club. That’s a small lot spec home, but it’s selling for a very nice number, rumored to be in the mid $2s. New homes always sell well when they’re of the right style (paint your trim white, please).
I superjetted yesterday, and I really would like it if you’d wave at me when I’m jetting. I’m the only guy with the black Superjet who wears a hat and sunglasses when I jet. I do that because I don’t like my hair blowing in the wind, because I have so much of it and it looks ridiculous. I wear sunglasses because it’s bright on the water, and that’s that. I boated yesterday as well, and the lake looked to me as it would look during any summer weekend. But it’s May, so it was better than July, because in July we expect it and in May we’re thankful for it. The lakefront is buzzing with construction, and in coming weeks I’ll be outlining the new builds on the lake, with photos to show you what you’re missing.
The bridge in Fontana is open, so the painful 9 month project is finally, mercifully, finished. It was a terrible inconvenience, as you’re likely well aware, and so now it’s open and life is better and everyone is happier. This week brings some big meetings for me, with some exciting new ideas on the horizon. We’ll see how it all plays out, but for now, I’m going to go back to pouring over my magazine to find the errors. There’s no telling what I might win if I find them all.