For years, if you executed an MLS search asking for those South Shore Club homes that fell into the “SOLD” category, you’d just find one lonely home. Repeat the search one year, there’s that home. Repeat the search the next year, just the one home. Again and again, over and over, just one home reflecting in the MLS under that magical category. The year of that sale was 2007, a time when real estate was still sort of normal, but it was developing a condition was, as of then, still asymptomatic. Though another home in the SSC sold around that time, for around the same money ($3.25MM), that home wasn’t entered into the MLS even though that other sale so badly wished for the company.
That single MLS sale stood alone, at first a sign that maybe things were going to be okay in the South Shore Club. Then, as months passed and no homes joined the sold group, doubt increased. Would the SSC ever again find another buyer? Was this magnificent new development destined for failure? Then, in 2010, a foreclosure and a bank owned sale. That sale printed at $1.75MM. Whispers ensued. Rumors and innuendos were batted around, passed from one buyer to another, over and over. Was the South Shore Club doomed? Was this REO the first domino to fall? And were the other domino’s lined up properly, not in the way that a small child would do but in the way that an adult might, so that to knock one over would render the rest destined to fall? Was it time to jump ship?
This was a legitimate concern. Other new developments in the recent-ish history of Lake Geneva have lashed out with dramatic mood swings. Geneva National, Abbey Springs; each had their growing pains. Further back, Bay Colony and Bay Colony South had market absorption problems, but this was the 70s, and apparently you guys had all sorts of problems back then. Even still, the concern that the South Shore Club was, from a market viewpoint, a lifeless desert, was warranted. But then something happened, and by something I mean nothing. Inventory grew during 2010 and into 2011, but excepting one lot on Forest Hill there were no other foreclosure troubles. There were no other distressed sales. There wasn’t any volume, but no volume is better, at times, than volume that reeks of distress.
In 2012, while markets everywhere found some new momentum, the South Shore Club found its groove, and printed three home sales in 12 months in the first time since forever. Two sales were mine, but that’s becoming a redundant chorus, even if I like the tune. The bookend sales of $3.575MM and $1.8MM were joined by a private sale around $2.5MM, and after years of wandering and wishing, the South Shore Club finally had established market boundaries that the market reinforced.
And with that, this: The home at lot 14 has sold for $3.2MM, to a cash buyer. This is meaningful on so many different levels, and each one of those levels should be celebrated. First, the price. At $3.2MM for an off-water but still up front location, the value range of $1.75MM (from the 2010 REO sale) to $3.575MM (for the on-water sale from 2012) has been cemented. The price is at the upper end of that range, which is proof that buyers appreciate fine finishes in every form. The cash position of the buyer is fabulous for the club, as the goal of this market cleanse has been to remove properties from over-leveraged or otherwise disinterested hands and place those properties into stronger hands. Cash positions rarely blow up, and to be in a market where the sales continue to transact to cash buyers is a wonderful thing for everyone.
This sale places some heat on me (note this sale was not mine, which is sad and heaps shame on my ancestors and offspring). It puts my listings at $2.875MM and $3.485MM squarely in play for 2013 buyers. There is no more doubt as to how the Club operates. The growing pains are over. There are no more questions as to the long term liquidity of an investment here. These two properties that I’m representing will sell this year, and if they don’t there may be a big white farmhouse on 10 acres just outside of Fontana for sale with BANK OWNED emblazoned across the sign. It should also be noted that as of this morning I have listed lot 3 in the South Shore Club for $399k. This price is the lowest possible point of entry for anyone seeking admission into the nearly overwhelming fabulousness of the SSC, and buyers with questions about this, and every other South Shore Club property would do well to contact me. Private, confidential tours are always available, and I promise to never, ever wear a sport coat or a name tag.
Photo by Matt Mason Photography of my impeccable lakefront offering listed for $3.485MM.
So lot 3 was an investment for the Lake Forest illinois owner.
Didn’t he buy that for around $300,000 about 2 years ago?
Who were the selling and listing agent for these 2 years ago?
Lot 3 was not an investment for the owner turned seller. It was an intended construction project that has recently been put on the back burner to pursue another property. He did indeed buy the property a couple years ago, through me as the buyer’s agent. The opportunity to settle into the South Shore Club for a price miles below the next most economical offering is a rare one indeed, and someone will likely take advantage of it, soon. Thanks for reading, David