I am officially the worst blogger ever. I just don’t think about it enough, as is evident by the fact that my last post was in August! I’ve been noticing some other real estate blogs that focus on the Lake Geneva area, and I’m a bit disenchanted by them. I thought a blog was supposed to be some insight into the market, not a place to post new listings… I’ll bet I get in trouble for that. Anyway, here’s your market update.

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Perception. It’s a powerful word for sure, as our perception of our surroundings, of our relationships, and of our businesses shapes just about every decision we make. One thing is certain though, perception is not always reality. The perception that exists in this current Lake Geneva real estate market is that we are in the midst of a buyers market. A buyers market simply means that there are more sellers than buyers, and that buyers technically should have the upper hand. With existing homesales down 22% in Chicago this quarter, perhaps a buyers market truly exists there. The perception of this real estate agent? Sellers are dictating in this market.

I’ve posed this question to many clients this week. “What is the most important thing you need in order to truly be in a buyers market?”

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I grew up on Geneva, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to me that the water is among the finest quality in all of the country. The clarity and depth, the temperature, and bottom structure, all of these are world class. Knowing this water as intimately as I do, I shouldn’t have been quite as dumbfounded with its’ beauty last Friday afternoon. Last Friday was a glorious day, and in a Spring where glorious days have been few and far between, I took advantage of it by heading out on the water for a couple hours Friday afternoon. The rare combination of the time of year, water temperature, lack of boat traffic, sunshine, and stillness of the water led me on a magical journey unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on Geneva.

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Last month I had a real estate deal on a piece of vacant land in Williams Bay fall through. That a deal fell through isn’t newsworthy, rather it’s the reason that the deal fell through. The purchaser of this vacant parcel was required by the village to file for a variance in order to build on this platted parcel of land. The variance was supposed to be a slam dunk, but was denied by the board of zoning appeals. The reason? Because the lot didn’t meet the minimum lot width mandated by village ordinance. The problem here is that this parcel was a pre-platted lot in the village. It wasn’t a lot created by some form of land division, or some other recently created hindrance. Rather, this lot remains exactly the same as it was when the village was laid out roughly a century ago.

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