If the Congress Club were a person, it would almost certainly be a woman. And if it were that woman, she would carry herself with grace and she would be beautiful, even though everyone would know she was more than a few years past her prime. It wouldn’t matter. Her age would be her crown, and if she was wearing that crown, perhaps a silver one, it would rest gently atop her dull green hair, which, on her, would look appropriate and splendid and not at all ironic. She would wear white, and she would be the envy of everyone, or at least of those who are paying attention and who feel a particularly pull towards green haired gracious women who never leave the house unless robed in white.
Over the course of Memorial Day weekend, I represented a buyer who made a fine bid on the Congress Club home that was offered for $1MM. The Congress Club is a co-op of sorts, and as such the purchase must be made in cash, and membership in the club is limited to a yes vote instead of a signature on a deed. If you’re buying in the Congress Club and you’re anxiously awaiting your signed deed you will indeed wait from now until the remainder of eternity, as no deeds are executed in a Congress Club transaction. My buyer’s were interested, they were motivated, and the club was a perfect fit for them. We negotiated a bit, intently if cautiously, but when the ample dust from the holiday weekend settled, we were left in the dark, left to wonder what might have been had we been chosen to join the white-sided green-roofed club. I shall not go into depth as to the particular oddities that were obvious in the way that my client was negotiated with, or not negotiated with as may be more accurate, for fear of spending the rest of my day in a frothy apoplectic state.
The buyer who did win the green haired lady that weekend closed on her just last week. The final sales price? $850k. A number that I find to be so pleasing and so attuned to where the market has been heading that I feel nothing but shame for the fact that I couldn’t squeeze my own buyer into this bucolic club. The price paid was far below that paid for the two other Congress Club sales during the past year, and I’m pretty confident in saying that the $850k price sets a bit of a bottom threshold for that development. If another property was available in the Club, no matter the condition or the state of repair when viewed as actual disrepair, it would certainly fetch a number of $800k or greater. This was a solid sale in a wonderful development, and the price was pleasing even to these hyper-price sensitive eyes. In the same way that the $1.25MM sale of the new construction earlier this year was a deal that I despised for the elevated price, this deal is as pleasing as that one was disappointing.
The Congress Club is not without some blemish. If you look closely at this stylish woman, you’ll see that she carries about her some rules that many might find to be a bit onerous. The ownership structure is also not ideal for those seeking fee simple simplicity, but once a buyer can get past the limitations and the exclusions, the lifestyle that results from such a purchase is beyond compare. Last night, when coming back from the Fontana fireworks, this fine woman lay dormant, with a few lights highlighting her many attributes, and the quiet still of her lakefront was beyond seductive. The Congress Club is a beautiful development, and if $850k is the price of ownership and ultimate admission, any buyer would do well to rush to her door bearing many gifts and whispers of undying loyalty and admiration.
PS. Yes, I’m in love with a development.