There’s a thing about houses that the market, as a whole, often forgets. In the pursuit of function over form, the market hastily cha…
Vacation Home Markets
During periods of growth and expansion it’s easy to superficially judge the health and supposed underlying strength of a particular va…
Lake Geneva Market Update
What an odd time this is. On one hand, it’s lame. Super lame. Terrible. Some people are sick. Others are rightfully terrified of becom…
Indian Hills For Sale
At the Lake, the off-water market lake access market is made up of three very important and distinct sub-markets. There are homes with slips…
Geneva Manor Sells
Amidst the landscape of our stalled lives, there is still activity. I listed 1530 Lake Shore Drive in Lake Geneva at the very end of January…
Wednesday
I took a walk yesterday. The last time I took a walk in the middle of the day was so long ago that I cannot remember it. Of course there hav…
Monday
Why do we even bother giving the days names? I read this in a tweet over the weekend and I thought it was funny. But then I also thought abou…
Reminisce
What an odd time to be alive. I’m glad to be alive during it, because the alternative seems worse. I think all of this social distanc…
Lake Geneva Quarantine
I’ve been contemplating what, if anything, to write about the current state of things. Things, as a point of fact, are bad. Individual…
Cafe Calamari Steak Review
Typically, I make some variety of plan when contemplating a particular establishment and the steak they serve. Last night was not typical. I…
Lake Geneva Lake Access Update
Coronavirus is coming for all of us. I mean, it might be. Who knows? I see on Facebook some of my friends who dislike the president seem to …
Medusa Steak Review
It was around noon on Friday when I realized I wanted to eat steak for dinner. The last steak I ate was at the Chop House, and as you’…
Winter Is Over
The ice boats found their smooth patch of ice on Saturday. It was breezy without being windy, sunny without being warm, and the ice was slip…
Chop House Steak Review
I made a reservation for Friday night. I had taken my son out for steak to the Hunt Club, my wife out for steak to the Grandview, and so it …
Choices
When considering a home purchase, it’s apparent to everyone, everywhere, that you have choices. Choices about location, bedroom count,…
Grandview Steak Review
It took me some googling to figure out if Grandview was one word or two, and further, if the restaurant was named the Grandview or just The …
The Hunt Club Steak Review
There may be some confusion as to what my goal is with these food reviews. I don’t write them because I think I’m someday going …
2019 Lakefront Market Year End Review
In August of this year, it’ll mark 24 years that I’ve been sitting at this desk. That means I’ve spent the majority of m…
Jonathan’s Steak Review
The last time I was at Jonathan’s On Brick Street was the second time I was at Jonathan’s On Brick Street. The first time I was…
Lake Geneva Market Update
January is an interesting month. On one hand, it’s winter, so everyone likes to pretend that it’s too difficult to do things. Dr…
1530 Lake Shore Drive
There’s a problem with owners who buy on the lakefront in Geneva Manor. They buy in the Manor for any number of reasons, but thereR…
Fire 2 Fork Steak Review
There are two sorts of people in this area. People who know where Millies was and people who don’t. There are no other sorts of people. For …
Best Steak in Lake Geneva
I have a problem with diets. I’ve been on several of them over the course of this adulthood that I’m rushing through, and withou…
1905 NLSD Sells
On a January day in 2018, a pleasant house on the north shore of Fontana hit the market for $4,695,000. It wasn’t a house that was nec…
Lake Geneva Lakefront Condo 2019 Market Review
In contrast to my accurate prediction for Geneva National last year, I admit to you this morning that I was dead wrong about my prediction f…
Geneva National 2019 Market Review
Geneva National is back, and it really is better than ever. Sure, there are still homeowners residing inside these brick and cedar behemoths…
The Business of Real Estate
I don’t pretend to be a particularly savvy investor. I have friends that are. I am not. I just don’t have the knack for it, and …
Welcome, 2020
I read an article last week about how to write out checks in the new year. If you write 1/6/20 on your check, the article supposed that a th…
Merry Christmas
And Happy Hanukah, for those celebrating. In fact, we’re all celebrating something. It’s one of the very few things everyone can…
Lake Geneva Real Estate Office
There have been many moments over the past 23 years that I’ve wanted to move my real estate office from Williams Bay to Lake Geneva. I…
614 Sauk Trail
Sometimes, things just don’t work out the way I’d prefer. Such is the case of 614 Sauk Trail in Fontana. I first listed this ho…
W4484 Basswood Drive
If there is one lane that has proven it is the preferred Lake Geneva lane, it’s Basswood. You wouldn’t be wrong if you suggeste…
Happy Thanksgiving
As I spy the cut spruce trees stacked for sale outside this coffee shop, I ponder what they are, exactly. Holiday Trees, the sign says. I wo…
Lake Geneva Farms
My wife and children were to be out of town for a few days, and my job was simple. In the morning, let the chickens out and be sure they had…
Lake Geneva Videos
It’s gray again. The snow has melted, so we have that going for us, but the white has been replaced with the grays and browns of Novem…
High End
What is it that makes a house appear high end? Is it the color palette? If we gray out a house in the most modern style, will that make it h…
Pier Guys
This morning things seem ideal. I woke up, which is a nice start to any day. My house was warm, my children healthy, and when I sat on the …
Market Oddities
Once in a while, I look at something other than the Lake Geneva lakefront and lake access market. I look at the market on Other Lakes, Wisco…
Clear Sky Lodge
It’s a shame I haven’t yet sold this beautiful home. Where else can you find a private tennis court, private (heated) swimming …
Lake Geneva Water
I see the world in black and white. I see it in wrong and right. I see the people who dwell in the gray and I wonder why. Packers fans see B…
November
If I were the sort of person who was forced to spend sixth months in a more tax advantageous state, it would be a struggle for me. In order …
Lake Geneva Market Update
This morning there are just 15 lakefront homes for sale on The Lake. It’s the last week of October and our colors have peaked. The bo…
Basswood Sells
I just wrote a brilliant review of the sale at W4396 Basswood. It was amazing, if I do say so myself. Succinct, powerful, articulate. And th…
Elevated
I spent last week in the south of France. It was a nice week, although it could be successfully argued that sitting at this desk watching th…
250 Circle Parkway Sells
Last year, about this time, I sold the home at 254 Circle Parkway in Williams Bay, up on the tip of Cedar Point. The home was lovely, with n…
Out Of Towners
I blame the television for this one. I also blame the internet, but it should be argued that the bulk of this blame lies with the televisio…
Jonathan’s Fish Fry Review
In January of 2018 I started my Fish Fry Review series. It was a nice little series, full of fish and potatoes and repulsive slices of rye b…
Lake Geneva Price Per Foot
There’s a problem with our market. A long standing problem, one that has been established by people who thought, at the time, that the…
Fall Sales
I didn’t have a great summer. My superjet sat on the lift, used only by my son and perhaps twice by me. The family had a new boat thi…
Sunday
There are days in our life that matter more than the other days. The days that matter do so for various reasons. Some of those days are mom…