RIP

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Well, my least favorite buyer has died. I don’t usually write about fatalities here, because it’s morbid and in spite of my fatalistic worldview, I prefer to keep this site … Read more

Idle Hands

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If I’ve accomplished nothing else in my life, I’ve certainly succeeded in identifying the many reasons people buy Lake Geneva vacation homes. I’ve rambled about gibberish, tried incredibly hard to … Read more

Knocking

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There’s a summer wind blowing through my October window again. It shouldn’t be, but it is. And it’s not really blowing. It’s knocking. It’s pulsing. And the curtain is dancing … Read more

Villa Hortensia Sells

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One of the interesting things about cliches is that they only become cliches because they’re used very often. And one of the reasons they’re used very often is because they’re … Read more

Burr Oaks Farm Sells

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In case you couldn’t tell, this was a really special property. I was proud to represent this lovely seller and their stunning farm. Sometimes selling a property isn’t an easy … Read more

Lake Geneva Market Update

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I’m bored with this market. That’s why I haven’t been writing as much as I’d like to. Boredom. But it’s more than boredom, it’s irritation. That’s it, bored irritation. The … Read more

Lake Geneva Condo

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Does anyone want to be my neighbor? I’ve listed one of the upper two bedroom condominiums at my 323 Broad Street building, and as you can see from these photos, … Read more

Hey Jealousy

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I declared it to be the finest place I have ever visited. No, more than that. The finest property I have ever seen. The finest of everything at any time … Read more

Prolific

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On the edge of my property, well beyond where the grass turns to prairie and after the prairie turns to a forest, if you can call it that, I have … Read more

Sales Trends

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If a condo sells because a buyer wasn’t particularly well informed, does this mean every condo should be priced based on the cemented reality of that one sale? If a … Read more

Mr. Complacent

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I’m complacent. I can feel it. I still turn over every rock and sweat out every deal, that part of me will never fade. It’ll kill me, but it won’t … Read more

Where

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So where would you rather be, he said. If you didn’t have to be here, where would you live? If you had to choose a place, tell me where. There … Read more

Market Discussion

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When I talk about the mood of the market, what exactly am I talking about? What is the market? The Market. It’s a meeting of the minds. A disagreement. A … Read more

Vista Del Lago

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There can only be one front row, and at Vista Del Lago that’s building One. The rarest offering in Vista is now available with expansive lake views reaching all the … Read more

Sioux Drive

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Many a painter, poet and writer have found inspiration in small stone cottages tucked away in a quiet landscape. And for good reason, since our surroundings influence our moods and have … Read more

Birds and Feathers

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I arrived at my office this morning and read a comment from some person I don’t know who suggested I’m a “chubby bitch” with size 44 pants, which is, in … Read more

Contagion

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If you were a buyer in 2002 and you called me to look for an entry level lakefront home, we would have been able to secure private frontage between $900,000 … Read more

Burr Oaks Farm

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Calm isn’t something we come by naturally. Life is chaotic, frenzied, complicated. It’s a whirlwind of harried navigation between the things that must be done and the things we’d like … Read more

These Days

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I spend most of my time wondering how Jackson Browne could write this song when he was just 16 years old. I remember being 16 years old. I had a … Read more

Lake Geneva Market Update

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It’s summer 2022 and the lakefront market at Lake Geneva is behaving itself. New inventory is hard to find and existing inventory has been picked over. So what’s next?

Gross

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One of the things I most dislike about real estate mania is the mania part. I want real estate to make sense. I want pricing to make sense. I want … Read more

Seller’s Remorse

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I contend that it would be impossible to sell a home that you loved without experiencing a considerable degree of seller’s remorse. Why wouldn’t you feel this way? How could … Read more

Categories Uncategorized
Lake Geneva Real Estate Market Update

Lake Geneva Fireworks

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If this blog was about my neighbors, and I was tasked with telling you when their firework celebrations were to occur, I would fail miserably. There are myriad reasons why … Read more

Ban

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I think everyone knows how I feel about pontoon boats. In case you don’t know, I hate them. That’s not to say that I don’t understand them, it’s just that … Read more

Pier 290

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I’m grateful for the dull things in life. For the way I feel when I go to the hardware store and buy two furnace filters and a small pack of … Read more

Tops

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I’m well aware that people grow tired of having me talk about sales volume. It’s tedious and annoying, I agree. I think that maybe I’ll stop talking about it, but … Read more

Tell

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If a house is listed for sale and then, a short while later, the price is dramatically reduced, what does that tell you? I view this as an admission of … Read more

Dissent

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I’ve been bothered by a comment that was made on this site recently, and I feel the need to discuss it further. The comment implied that my job as an … Read more

Rain

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It rained again yesterday. It would have come as a surprise to me, but it rained a bit two days before that as well. And last weekend we had some … Read more

Benches

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I’ve spent much of the last twenty years working on a theory that suggests the only people who sit on park benches are old men. I was driving a month … Read more

Lake Geneva For Sale

Gratitude

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I’m not one of those people who have trouble saying thank you. I say it all of the time. I say it when someone refills my water at a restaurant, … Read more

The Wall Street Journal

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Imagine writing an article on the 1982 baseball season with a specific focus on stolen bases and not interviewing Ricky Henderson. That’s what the freelancers at the Wall Street Journal … Read more

World Wide Web

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In 1995 I owned a Saab 900. It was gunmetal gray, but it wasn’t a Turbo, so I operated as though those two conditions canceled each other out. I owned … Read more

The stunning pastels of a Lake Geneva spring

Finally

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I feel better now. I was on the verge of breaking, but in true Midwest fashion I powered through the difficult days knowing that there were better days around the … Read more

Pricing Strategy

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One of the great debates in the business of real estate revolves around pricing strategy. Some agents want listings so bad they’ll price a listing wherever the seller wishes to … Read more

April

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When I was in high school, a friend of mine had a girlfriend named April. She had curly hair and tanned skin and braces, I think. She went to another … Read more

Short The Market

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There are many reasons that I’m worse at my job than I otherwise could be. One reason is that I really don’t like working on the weekends. It’s a pretty … Read more

My Friend Eric

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I have a friend named Eric that you probably don’t know. I met Eric when we were both in the sixth grade attending a small church in Williams Bay. We … Read more

Categories Uncategorized

Crypto

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We’re happy to announce that We Are Now Accepting Bitcoin For Payment, the sign read. We also accept Ethereum and Dogecoin and ADA and Shibu. In fact, we accept every … Read more

Herbs

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Herbs The gas station in our town is called Herb’s. I should say, it was called Herb’s. It might have been called something else even when I thought it was … Read more

The Cottage

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The first time I ever saw the cottage I don’t think I noticed it. I drove by it and kept driving, oblivious to the obsession that would soon find me. … Read more

Something Else

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There’s something wrong with you, she said. I know, I said.  The Johnson deal is in trouble.  Not because it should be, but because it just is. The deal is … Read more

The Rink

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In the winter the town would flood the gravel parking lot to give the locals a place to ice skate.  Sure the lake was full of ice, but this rink … Read more

Bridges

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I was down at that bridge again. It was dark and it was rainy and that’s why I was there. Young couples put on their prom best and stand on … Read more

Whataboutisms

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The frothy whip of the real estate market has improved the lives and wellbeing of many, and in that list of many I include my own life and the lives … Read more

Low Grade

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What if some houses are actually terrible? What if certain houses were built by people who shouldn’t have been allowed to pick any tile, flooring, cabinets, light fixtures, paint colors, … Read more

Sand

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Thinking about buying a home in the islands? Just say no.

Merry Christmas

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It’s strikingly obvious to me that without my clients and friends, my family would not be so uniquely blessed. For that, I am exceedingly thankful and appreciative. There’s a lot … Read more

Real Estate Shorts

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Do you know what the word breathtaking means? It means to have your breath taken. Like if you get murdered, that’s a seriously breathtaking moment. Once I was installing siding … Read more

Patience

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It’s been said that patience is a virtue. If you’re trying to teach math to a child, or trying to train a dog to balance a cookie on its nose, … Read more

Virgil Abloh

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I never met Virgil Abloh. I didn’t own anything from Off-White, the company he founded in Milan almost ten years ago. I’ve never met his wife, or his children, or … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

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My wife and her family are Canadians. It’s not their fault, really, they just are, and they do the best that they can with this condition. During our Covid Chronicles, … Read more

The Romantic

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Growing old is fascinating. There are things that matter and things that don’t, and when I was younger I assumed that when I was older I’d have a better understanding … Read more

California Dreaming

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California has positioned itself as the cultural king of America, as every Midwestern kid knows. A weekend visit to judge its importance.

Calm

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There’s something wrong with the way a summer day makes me feel. I’ve heard stories that some people tell, stories about lazy hazy days. The setting is always summer. Never … Read more

October

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I don’t like September anymore. In fact, I don’t know why I ever did. October is where it’s at.

South Lakeshore Drive Sells

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Another lakefront sale, another lakefront transaction completed off market. If you want to know what’s happening on the lakefront, you have to work with the lakefront leader.

Fall At The Lake

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Well, that’s that. Summer is dead and gone. My dreams of enjoying it are left mostly unfulfilled, and I know it’s my own fault. When you’re young and you’re taught … Read more

Back To School

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I’ve been writing this blog with intent for twelve years. Twelve years ago, back to school meant something different to me. Twelve years ago when I dropped my son off … Read more

Just a Cottage

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It was once only a dream. It was once a fantasy. Some day, maybe, but unattainable. Years passed and it become possible. A stretch, but possible. After years more work … Read more

Of Lenders and Bubbles

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It’s easy to look at 2021 and think of 2008. Markets rise and fall for plenty of reasons, but the lending practices of 2008 are nowhere to be found in 2021.