Before I launch into the Geneva lakefront market update, I hope you’ll notice something about these updates. Ever notice how Realtors like to tell you the market is doing great(!), or perhaps they’ll tell you the market is doing terrible? As Realtors, we love to paint with big fat brushes, but the problem is that real estate is too fragmented, so these big sloppy brush strokes are unable to paint an accurate picture of a market. That’s why I break the market down for you in these bi-weekly market updates. Perhaps I should get out of real estate altogether and turn into the Joe Mansueto (Morningstar) of real estate and just rate the markets and analyze their performance. That way I could get other Realtors to pay for the information that I so willingly provide them with right here for free. Good idea? Maybe not. On to the update.
As of this morning, there are 30 true lakefront homes for sale on Geneva. When I say “true”, I mean homes with private frontage on the actual lake. Not harbor front homes, not association homes on the lake, but true private frontage owning lakefront homes. South Shore Club, although I love you and think you’re a great value in this market, I’m leaving you out of this because your homes are not techically true lakefront homes. Those 30 lakefront homes are priced from our recent historical entry point of the $1.5MM market, all the way up to the very top end of our market near $8MM. In looking at the inventory, we have some real quality on the market right now, and there are at least 3 properties on the lake that I think are striking good deals. Those deals are littered throughout the market range, but two of them are in the entry level market, and they are both properties that have undergone severe price reductions in recent months. Buyers, if price reductions light your fire, better come see me for a closer look.
There are two lakefront homes under contract right now, lending further proof that there are plenty of buyers in this market with motivation, and they appear to be focusing on quality of location and quality of construction. Remember when I told you that buyers on Geneva love new construction? Well they really do, and this year that truth is playing out again.
Overall, it’s a great time to be in the market. If you’re a buyer sitting on the sidelines waiting on your white unicorn for that mythical market bottom to present itself, please get off the magical horse and think about this a little. If we’re lucky, we have 80 summers on this beautiful earth. 80. We live in the midwest, so that means we really have about 4 months a year of terrific weather, which means we have toughly 320 months of summer. Assuming most of you reading are not 2 years old, we don’t have any summers left. Heck, I’m turning 31 in two weeks, which means that I’m already 120 months through my potential of 320 summers. (please God let me see my 80th summer!) It’s not an endless summer like some 1980’s love song, it’s a finite summer. It’s here and then it’s gone. It’s the end of April right now, and you could identify a perfect property for you and your friends and family, and close on it before Summer begins in earnest at the end of next month. You could spend this summer lakeside, instead of suburban pretty-yet-confining- back yard-side. You’ll love it, and you’ll wonder why you wasted so many summers. Let’s go find a lake home for you and your future generations this week, and I promise I’ll wash my car before you come.