Lake Geneva Foreclosure Update

Lake Geneva Pier

In what should be viewed as a good sign for buyers, the Lake Geneva vacation home market is experiencing a steady, if insignificant, flow of foreclosure filings. While much of the vacation home market has been spared any measurable impact from the foreclosure crisis of the past two years, there are some individual markets that are showing signs of strain here. I reviewed Lis Pendens filings for the month of December, and found a handful of prospective foreclosures that may find their way to sheriffs sale and eventually onto the open market.

First, a primer. Remember that we’re not really interested in foreclosures at the sheriffs sale stage, rather preferring to wait until the bank boots the property around their tangled web of departments and ultimately lists the property on the open market as an REO (real esate owned). Once this takes place, if the price is even remotely in line with value, the property will usually sell very quickly, in part due to the magic words “foreclosure” or “bank owned” somewhere in the MLS description. If the property isn’t priced attractively once it hits the market as REO, then the bank will typically slash the price as much as 10% every 30 days until the property is sold.

For future foreclosure activity affecting the Lake Geneva vacation home market, it appears as though we’ll have REO inventory in Abbey Ridge (potentially two foreclosures in this small development near Fontana’s lakefront), Cedar Point Park (as many as four in foreclosure here), and as many as four in Geneva National. If you’re looking for Abbey Springs, he’s standing in front of the mirror with baby oil dripping from his rippling biceps as he displays his strength to the world. That’s sort of gross, but if I would have assigned a female identity to the development, you might have had images of those super strong, super tan, women that frequent ESPN competitions on Saturday afternoons in February.

The Bella Vista has what I believe is its first foreclosure of the year under way right now, and that foreclosure shouldn’t be a surprise. I’ve long thought that condominium developments would host the highest level of foreclosures, given the financial impact of monthly association dues on top of mortgages. There are also foreclosures at the Grand Geneva’s time share properties, which also shouldn’t be much of a surprise given the lack of liquidity in that sort of ownership.

Active REO values are fairly limited right now, but the best deal in the entry level vacation home market here is a super cheap REO that was just listed last week at Abbey Hill. This unit is listed at $148,500, which is less than half of what it sold for just a few years ago. This unit is a tremendous value, and if you’re sitting at your computer screen right now, pondering your vacation home-less existence, you really need to get your fanny in the car and drive up to look at this place today. Or tomorrow. It’s a great value, and I’ve already written about how much I like Abbey Hill in this market. Listen to me on this one, and you’ll be thrilled that you did. It is hands down the best value priced under $250k in this vacation home market. If you’re interested in seizing this opportunity, get in touch with me quickly. If you can think of someone who might be interested in buying a super cheap vacation getaway in Fontana, please do forward them this post with a subject line “BUY THIS!”. Deals like this are not common, and if you pass on it, don’t call me looking for another condo like this for $148k, because chances are, there won’t be another one. I’m staring at my phone right now, waiting for your call.

(This condo went under contract today, and is now listed as pending. If you don’t want to miss out on the next one, take a minute and email me. Tell me exactly what you’re looking for, and I’ll email you the day something becomes available. While this blog is as up to date on the market as you can possibly get, it is no substitute for an email that I can fire off as soon as something hits the open market. Shucks.)

About the Author

I'm David Curry. I write this blog to educate and entertain those who subscribe to the theory that Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is indeed the center of the real estate universe. When I started selling real estate 27 years ago I did so of a desire to one day dominate the activity in the Lake Geneva vacation home market. With over $800,000,000 in sales since January of 2010, that goal is within reach. If I can help you with your Lake Geneva real estate needs, please consider me at your service. Thanks for reading.

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