As recently as last year, it wouldn’t have been easy, perhaps not even possible, to fetch $2.1MM for a vacant lot in the South Shore Club. That’s not because the broad market wouldn’t have appreciated an offering of a rare, lakefront lot in the Club. Nor is it because the market hadn’t yet appreciated to such a wonderful extend that the sale price would have been possible. That price wouldn’t have been possible one year ago because the supporting sales that prove that particular value hadn’t yet printed.
There’s something interesting about what’s happened in the South Shore Club over these past several months. First, a lakefront listing, last August. I closed that listing for $4.175MM, making it the first sale in the SSC to exceed $4MM. Plenty of owners have investments in their homes that exceed $4MM, but never before had the market validated those outlays. Following that sale, another owner sensed the timing might be right for his family to make a move and he listed, also with me. We closed that sale this spring for $4.6MM (plus $100k for personal property). With those sales cemented, it was this vacant lots turn.
I listed this lakefront lot last month for $2,195,000. I didn’t feature it on this website, in large part because the buyer presented quickly and was ready to roll. The lot closed last Friday for $2,100,000, making it the highest vacant land sale in the SSC, ever. But was it some unique marketing spin that I employed to sell this property? Other agents might have you semi-convinced that they have some proprietary blend of marketing wiz-bang, but they don’t. And neither do I. It’s not hard to place an ad in a newspaper and have no one call you from it. But it is hard to print two sales within 10 months that successfully prove a segment’s market value and then introduce a piece of inventory that falls nicely in line with that newly affirmed market.
And that’s the real secret to this recent SSC success. It’s not in the marketing, though if I’m involved that’s pretty nice stuff, indeed. It’s in the timing of it all. It’s in understanding how a certain piece fits into the greater SSC puzzle. Yes, an owner can list his property whenever he or she feels like it. But is this approach smart? Or is it better to understand the process, to understand the inventory and the competition, and apply a rare dose of sensible timing to the process? This seems simple, but timing an offering within the greater context of an association market is anything but common. Thankfully, these past three properties sold because the sellers listened to me, and the result was perfect.
To the seller of this most recent property, I thank you. To future buyers and sellers of properties within the South Shore Club, work with me. Since 2012, when I was hired by the developers of the SSC to represent several of the homes and remaining lots there, I’ve closed on 8 of the 13 single family home sales (including the top two sales), and 11 of the 13 vacant lot sales. If your aim is the South Shore Club, you’re in luck. The market couldn’t be healthier, the future more secure, and your choice in agent more clear.