There were three Lake Geneva vacation home sales this week, so that’s something. The lake access market is humming along, doing quite nicely, but seemingly content to just be okay. … Read more

I am extremely skilled in the fine art of destroying jeans. In fact, the ability to ruin a pair of expensive jeans might be my superpower, in case they decide … Read more

Through the words that I write here and the words that I speak there, I have positioned myself as a value guy. This is a blessing to clients who discover … Read more

I moderately enjoy traveling. The effort is not so fun- the TSA, the early flights, or the late ones too, and the feeling that something has been forgotten that will … Read more

The twenty-first day of May was a long time ago. I wasn’t as tired then as I am now, which isn’t to suggest that I’m somehow extra tired now but … Read more

In character, swimming pools, and footings, depth is important. Shallow footings lend an advantage to structural problems, shallow pools keep neurosurgeons in business, and with shallow character we’d all steal … Read more

By Sunday, the mood has changed. It doesn’t have to change, this mood, but it does. We have many more hours to spend at the lake, time when we don’t … Read more

To notice a nuanced trend is to notice what most people do not care to see. Nuanced, subtle trends are difficult to see, to articulate, to explain. But front line … Read more

While standing in the middle of the blast furnace that is our hot and dry summer of 2012, the view towards winter doesn’t look so bad. Snow looks sort of … Read more

I have a tendency to steer clients towards homes that I like. That word, “steer”, is a very evil real estate term. I read something about it once in some … Read more

I wasn’t looking for any sort of advice on how to default on a mortgage, I was just looking for some appropriate strength contact lenses. And I’m sure the woman … Read more

If only we were writers of lyrics, the sort that flood through our radios and our iPhones, then things would be easier. If I were to write the following sentence, … Read more

When this year was young, the South Shore Club was gilded both in copper and slate and stone, but also shrouded in a fairly heavy cloak of uncertainty. In January, … Read more

The key to most good, hard work is to keep your head down while doing it. If we’re mowing lawns, we’re keeping our head down. Distractions will only serve to … Read more

As the fitting sequel to yesterday, today we must discuss those other lakefront homes, and the other lake access ones too. Those other homes are the ones not receiving the … Read more

When does a market shift? Does it shift when the news tells us so? Does it shift when the buyers outnumber the sellers? Does it shift when market times shrink … Read more

Whenever 154′ of level Geneva lakefront hits the open market, there is reason to hurry. Brokers call, I email, others whisper to their friends or closest clients. This is a … Read more

To be the King, you generally must have already won something. In the times before ours, Kings were only Kings for as long as they could defend their kingdom. If … Read more

I don’t know about you, but I’m thoroughly and completely exhausted. I feel better today than I did yesterday, and I felt better yesterday than I did on Saturday, and … Read more

This isn’t the fourth of July. It’s not a date, it’s a statement. It’s independence, a state of being made possible only through the ultimate sacrifice of others. It’s an … Read more

I am moving. The word moving is interesting. It is a word and movement and a motion at once. To say I am moving is to present motion, and though … Read more

The lakefront market in late June of 2012 feels very much like it did in late June of 2011. We have sales pending today, plenty of them, but we also … Read more

The general idea behind the sale of a foreclosed on, or REO, property, is that once the borrower defaults and the bank or other investor becomes the owner of record, … Read more

If Geneva Lake were a great big donut, we could be excused for clinging to its edges. If there were glazed waves that pushed the outer limits of the circle, … Read more

I can feel it now just as I felt it last night, late, and as I felt it this morning, early. I feel it then as I feel it now … Read more

You know what smart people are doing right now? They aren’t buying real estate. They aren’t looking around with some broad aim, approaching real estate all willy nilly like. They … Read more

Lakefront home sales are generally one of two things. They are either quick and seemingly easy, or they are slow and drawn out- miserable affairs that can span months and … Read more

If we’re buyers today, the best thing we can hope for is seller competition. If one seller wants $200k and another wants $200k, does this mean the market is $200k? … Read more

Early morning appointments dictate an improvised post today. Instead of my boring writing, consider Part Two to a video that I featured here a couple of years ago. It’s an … Read more

When a person asks me how the market is doing, what they are really asking for is validation of their own burgeoning opinion that the market is getting better. These … Read more

I am supremely skilled in spending other people’s money. I get enjoyment out of this exercise, and as the skill plays well into my day job of actually getting other … Read more

I doubt that anyone will, at any time in my life, consider me to be a swarthy sort. My skin will wrinkle prematurely, a condition owed to a life spent … Read more

When a market is sluggish, even a short burst of activity doesn’t do much to change the perception that the market remains slow. When a particular segment struggles for years … Read more

Boats are, invariably, like children. The relationship between parent and child, owner and boat, they are quite similar. There are moments of pure happiness, of mutual respect and possible adoration. … Read more

I ate dinner at the Abbey Springs Yacht Club last weekend. I had a salad, a selection dictated by my morbid obesity, a salad with chicken and corn and some … Read more

My mom and dad were both school teachers. Lifers. They taught from a young age to a fairly old age, and it was what they did best. My father taught … Read more

To prove a point to you, I was going to stand on the deck of this house and throw a ball, or a rock, or something small and round-ish towards … Read more

A car parked along the side of a road is a universal signal for one of two things. It is either broken down and unable to move, or it is … Read more

Well then, that was quite the weekend. While the general recipe was equal doses of wind and heat, mixed in with a giant scoop of humanity and a heavy handed … Read more

In musical chairs, the person left standing when the music stops is the person who loses the game. Fortunately, there is recovery after losing this game, especially if you can … Read more

There are no longer days between us and summer. These are not days, they are hours. In these hours, many of us will have things to do. There are towels … Read more

The incentives for a Realtor to sell your home are many. There’s the smile on your face when they sell your home. It’s so sincere. And then there’s the moment … Read more

Your back yard. It’s pretty neat. There’s some lawn, mowed nicely into disciplined stripes. There’s that left corner of the lawn, the one nearest the Johnson’s garden shed. The one … Read more

I waited in the Starbucks line last week while the fella in front of me had the barista pour buckets of steaming hot coffee into a great big thermos. I … Read more

Last spring was like this one. A bit cold. A touch rainy. Immensely clingy. But today, with a 70 something forecast and just two weeks until the biggest day of … Read more

I think the sheer volume of REO sales that banks currently engage in must somehow offset the frustration of individual properties not selling. If you’re Bank of America and you’re … Read more

I’ve been guilty of many things. The guilt hasn’t been leveled with a smack of a gavel and shouts of protest from family and friends, but still. I am guilty … Read more

In 1900, a single hole of golf was mowed into existence at the present day George Williams College. A few years later, James Naismith added six more. Yes, that peach-basket-loving-Naismith. … Read more

Waves are one of two things. They are either eternal, forever washing up and receding and washing up again, or they are the most temporary of movements. Either they last … Read more

Phew! I’m back. We had some internet troubles that my good hosting team has fixed, so we’re back live. I imagined scores of people weeping over the loss of this … Read more

When I was 15, I cast a perch Rapala with my black Zebco bullet over some cribs and hooked a largemouth bass. When I walked with that mighty fish onto … Read more

Whenever I write about the troubles of a particular segment of our vacation home market, I find myself in some degree of trouble. I get emails sometimes, comments other times, … Read more

I have worked with buyers who haven’t bought anything for years. And years. And sometimes, those buyers buy something. That’s nice when they do. Other times, they buy nothing, which … Read more

When Apple decided that an iPad should cost $499, with variations costing more and older models, rendered obsolete upon the announcement of a new one, should be less, many people … Read more

I don’t know why I bother with these foreclosure updates. Perhaps it’s because I’ve had to find a way to write over a thousand posts during the last four years, … Read more

Given the vast array of properties available in the Lake Geneva real estate market, it should come as no surprise that there are, at most times, dead segments. Most of … Read more

I suppose it’s time I accepted each Lake Geneva area sale and moved on. There’s no point arguing about it. If a buyer wants to buy something that I don’t … Read more

To sell real estate is to engage in a competition. There are battles within a great war, and unfortunately, casualties are taken and points are tallied. This is not a … Read more

I have some friends who, when I speak something irritating to them, or say something negative about them, respond by saying “I don’t receive that”. This is an interesting way … Read more

Rivers are sort of gross. Trout streams are cool. Western rivers that flow off of mountains and through low grassy valleys are too. But most rivers just flow with the … Read more

It shouldn’t surprise you that I dream about real estate. Often. Some dreams are wonderful, others are more accurately described as nightmares, but they are all dreams. I have always … Read more

Early appointments dictate a skipped post today. But here’s an old video to remind those unmotivated workaholics exactly what they’re 44 days away from missing out on. A Lake Geneva … Read more

It is difficult to explain, this obsession over a mushroom. Yesterday, after an indulgent lunch with family, I escaped to meet a friend. We parked one car at an undisclosed … Read more

It seems to me that the Friday that arrives 48 days from this Good Friday isn’t as important to others as it is to me. There’s no doubt that someone, … Read more

It would be easy for me to start thinking that the real estate market has been healed. This is a very, very common thought these days. I hear it from … Read more

If Mark Twain deemed golf to be a good walk spoiled, I can only imagine what he’d think about fly fishing. There are easy ways to fish. Really all you … Read more

During any one of the past four years, you would be more likely to find me in Abbey Springs than in Geneva National. On any given day, with any given … Read more

If pressed, I wouldn’t buy my lakefront home in the city of Lake Geneva. I’d take it if someone were to give it to me, I’m not stupid. But I … Read more

I’m pretty sure I need to get a grill for my boat. My boat, the boat, the only boat I really talk about on this blog when I’m not talking … Read more

I have never really been in a fight. I do remember tripping some kid once, but only after he tripped me. I also remember a friend of my older brothers … Read more

To be trapped with real estate is not an enviable thing. To be trapped inside of real estate is worse, but absent any earthquakes or F-something tornadoes most of us … Read more

Geneva National. It just sounds fancy, doesn’t it? But then again, everything with National in it sounds lofty. Geneva Lakefront Realty is okay, I guess. But Geneva National Realty? Must … Read more

If you gave me a couple hours of your time, assuming you would have to indeed give me that time as I could likely not afford to pay for it, … Read more

I admit that in February, or at least in a normal February, with snow in my eyes and a chill in my heart the lake can be less than intoxicating. … Read more

Last year at this time, it was not 70 something every day. There were no piers in on Geneva, no Sunday boat rides taking place, and no grass of any … Read more

The water temperature of Geneva Lake is currently 42 degrees. I’m pretty sure that last year the water had not warmed to that level until the end of April. This … Read more

Recently, we’ve successfully hunted down affordable proximity to the lake. Then we captured a view or two for a reasonable ransom. Now, today, on this glorious 77 degree day in … Read more

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday. To make sure that Thursday doesn’t just occur on a random Thursday of the 52 that we might have each year, presidents … Read more

If I ever find myself in the market for an eight million dollar lakefront home on Geneva I already know what I’ll look for. The odds are slim that this … Read more

The fishing poles, three of them in total, rest in the corner of the office. They have been there for some time, but not for so much time that the … Read more

During the darkest of days buried deep in the darkest of years it was easy to make a real estate mistake. Foreclosures had not yet become widespread, or not at … Read more

The quiet of a golf broadcast is attractive to me. I enjoy the stillness of it all. When the sun is ample, the grass so green, and quiet surrounds both, … Read more

I can’t say for sure if shedding my light on the demon Bigfoots of Michigan somehow swayed the fine folks at Barron’s last week, but I can’t say that it … Read more

I imagine if I scoured Ebay for long enough I could find an antiquated set that had long ago been discarded from a Hollywood stage. The furniture would smell of … Read more

There will be no ice on Geneva this year. This is obvious. There was some ice, in Geneva Bay, and a bit in Williams Bay and a few hundred feet … Read more

While no one, anywhere, has ever uttered the phrase “it’s a million dollar proximity”, they have often determined something has a million dollar view. It’s common, in fact. If you … Read more

I have not yet reached that point in my life where I feel the need to look into my ancestry. I imagine someone before me has done the work on … Read more

I operate today under a theory based partly on knowledge and partly on estimation that our lakefront market peaked in terms of value during 2006. There were sales in 2007 … Read more

By now, it is common knowledge among most that Gage Marine is in the process of constructing a restaurant. If you didn’t share that common knowledge, now you do. But … Read more

I might cover the foreclosure market on these pages, but the market that I cover on those days is limited to the market that I cover on all the other … Read more

I have bought many fancy things in my life. And I’ve overpaid for nearly all of them. Most of these splurges are modest, but when modest expenditures lay scattered on … Read more

I suppose today the Abbey Villa harbor front units are not going to count as lakefront. And why should they? That might be a harbor in front of those units, … Read more

If it is the 1970s and you build a four unit condominium building out of various materials, but mostly wood, and then you apply several coats of stain and varnish, … Read more

To be a doctor would be to know what the patient does not, even after a mostly full disclosure of the patient’s prognosis has been given. The doctor will tell … Read more

The first thing we must do is agree that private lakefront is the goal. If the means are present and the motivation is high, then lakefront on Geneva is the … Read more

In 1983, Mrs. Anderson had a wooden alligator in her classroom. It was green, as it should have been, with wooden wheels and a width across the shoulders that made … Read more

If you suffered through the State Of The Union address last week, and combined that sentiment with the “surprisingly” lower unemployment statistic on Friday, you might be under the impression … Read more

It is no secret that the South Shore Club is an exclusive development. Anything numbering just 40 in total would be viewed as exclusive. While this is known, what isn’t … Read more

In Lake Geneva today the forecast high is 44 degrees. With sunshine. It’s delightful, really. I walked from my car to my office this morning and those five paces were … Read more

When I think of Geneva National, the next thought is usually about Abbey Springs. If you need help differentiating between the two developments, just think of Abbey Springs as a … Read more