Oak Shores Sale

In March of this year, a fine lakefront home on Bonnie Brae sold for $2.625MM. The price paid per front foot of lakefront was $17,500. Then in May, a buyer with obvious discernment paid $3.5MM for the Born Free estate on the north shore. This property is what a serious estate priced at land value sells at, and it was an obvious value. The price for the 200 feet of frontage? $17,500 per front foot. And yesterday, when my Oak Shores listing closed for $3.1MM to a lucky buyer, the price paid for each of those 181 feet of frontage was $17,127. Three large estates, three different brokers, three different months, all with a nearly identical price paid per front foot. Collusion on behalf of wicked real estate brokers? Not really, just a market exhibiting a solid, sustainable trend.

When I listed this large estate earlier this year for $4.295MM, I had the highest of hopes. Properties with architectural significance rarely hit the market on Geneva, and when they do, the reaction can be varied. Some homes sell immediately, and others sit. As I was the second broker to have a shot at Oak Shores, this one had sat. And so when I listed it, there was no clear verdict rendered by the market, other than the property had yet to strike a chord with the right buyer at the right time. That buyer came on the scene in July, and after months of hand ringing and maneuvering and many different treatments with my trusty, highly portable defibrillator, the deal closed yesterday for the cash price of $3.1MM (personal property allowance in there will reflect a different recorded transfer price).

From a distance, this price- a price roughly 28% off the list- looks anemic. It looks pitiful. It looks as though I didn’t do my job. And by some measures, I didn’t. I would have loved to sell this home for $4MM. If I had, the glances around the closing table wouldn’t have signaled resignation and relief, instead sellers would exude joy, and I, with my inflated commission, would feel the same. Instead, the property closed at a fair market price, one that might seem poor until you consider the comparable explanation in paragraph one. The market functions smoothly at times and in certain segments, and in the upper bracket lakefront market during 2011, the market has performed well enough to be congratulated for its remarkable efficiency. As a Realtor, I negotiate prices to the best of my profound ability, but most times market trends will not be defied.

The home itself was and is a special structure. Very few examples of Tudor architecture remain on Geneva, and this Oak Shores estate may be the most outstanding example left along our revered shores. The buyer will now embark on a significant renovation, to change this and add that. To modify and refresh, to make a 100 year old mansion suitable for active family life at the lake. They will continue the renovations that the previous owner had initiated, and the end result will be something visible for all of us to see as we walk by the shore path or cruise past on our boats. This will be a very public renovation, as all lakefront renovations tend to be.

The buyer of this sale was not some newbie, who found his way to Geneva with the aid of a navigation screen and a desire to discover his own personal frontier. Instead, this buyer was an owner on Geneva already, and moved up from nice lakefront home to terrific lakefront estate. This upward mobility in our lakefront market has been on display for decades, but it is more pronounced lately. For Geneva to thrive, we don’t really need a mountain of new buyers, we just need current Geneva lovers to need more space to entertain their lake loving friends and family. Geneva, as a giant economic ecosystem, could flourish over time even without the introduction of throngs of new buyers. As long as we can move up and move down, there will be volume, which is yet another reason that Geneva can sustain activity even in the face of severe economic uncertainty.

The sale was the third lakefront sale for me during 2011, which puts me in a position that I’ve long hoped to reside in. Since the start of 2010, this sale represented my 7th Geneva lakefront transaction side, putting me tops among all agents for total lakefront transaction sides over those 21 months (per MLS). I’ve been blessed to be a part of these sales over the last two years, and hope to hold on to my market lead for as long as possible. Unfortunately, this fortunate position depends on future and ongoing sales, which means I could really use some help from you to pull this off. If you know anyone looking to buy or sell on or near Geneva, I trust you know that this is me begging for that business. In the mean time, a huge thank you to the sellers who trusted me to sell this fine lakefront property for them and to the agent and attorneys who helped put this together, and a big congratulations to the buyer of this fine lakefront estate.

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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