I spent a portion of my weekend at the South Shore Club. Unfortunately, I wasn’t lounging poolside. Nor was I preparing lunch for friends and family at the clubhouse Viking grill. When I didn’t finish making lunch, I also didn’t take one of the eight association boats out for a cruise. I didn’t call the concierge to reserve the 27′ Cobalt for a 6 pm cruise on Sunday night, and I most certainly didn’t ask her to put 6 Diet Cokes and 2 bottles of water in the boat for me either. When I didn’t finish with the boat ride, I didn’t throw the keys to the waiting pier help, and I didn’t sit down in my golf cart for a ride back to the house that I don’t own there. Instead, I showed the same house three times to three different customers, in hopes that on some weekend later this summer they’ll be able to turn my didn’ts into their dids.

Ah, the South Shore Club. An enigma in the market since its inception, continually contorting and adjusting to find its place in our broader lakefront vacation home market at Lake Geneva. Originally, the prices were too high for most to entertain. The vacant parcels were very expensive, and relative to the price of private frontage, the development didn’t make much sense to me. As time went on and prices for the vacant land slipped, the development found more favor, and at this point in time, only seven of the forty lots are still owned by the developing group. Pricing has softened considerably, even though you wouldn’t know it by looking at the asking prices. Here’s all you need to know about the pricing of the vacant land at the South Shore Club- the last lot to sell on the open market in the SSC was lot 21. This lot was listed at $1.39MM, and closed at $799k. That lot sold for roughly 58% of the asking prices. In other words, if you’re considering the South Shore Club, it doesn’t make much sense to pay attention to the list prices.

The housing in the South Shore Club continues to stagnate on the open market. Nothing has sold on the open market since 2008, and there are currently 7 homes on the open market. The prices continue to fall, and we’re getting close to a point where some of the properties will sell for prices that the properties couldn’t be replicated for- even at the newly discounted lot sales prices. Most interesting in the South Shore Club is the emergence of a bank owned property there. This house is listed in the low $2MM’s, and there’s reason to believe that this property might sell at a price that was previously unheard of at the South Shore Club. This is the house I was showing over the weekend. And this is the house that anyone who has been picking at the SSC for years should most seriously consider. This is also a house that will sell over the next couple weeks, and if I am wrong, I’ll be sure to sheepishly point that fault out on this very blog.

A quick note- the dues in the South Shore Club are not cheap. They are $1650 per month, per lot. That’s $19,800 per year for association fees. Now, before you get all angry about it and slam your computer screen shut, consider the numbers a little closer. There is essentially no landscaping required for individual homeowners here, so you’re saving as much as $2500 per season on this expense. There is also no reason to buy or maintain a boat in this association. These savings are considerable. The SSC has beautiful boats, and the use of those boats is included in your association fees. You don’t even have to pay for gas. Some of the boats they have are boats that would cost in excess of $100k. Look at it like this. If you rent a slip at the Abbey or elsewhere, you’ll spend around $4000 for your slip, maybe more, maybe less. Your in/out service through the marina for your winterizing and maintenance of the boat will probably be around $700. Your winter storage will cost around $1000. Your gas, assuming you burn through a tank of gas every two weeks at $4.99 per marina gallon will cost you around $2000 for the season. If you’re a light boater, let’s say it’s $1000 for the season. Those costs, before you purchase the boat, add up to around $6700 per year. And that’s before something breaks. Those landscaping and boating savings amount to more than $9000 annually, which is the equivalent of almost 6 months of association dues. That’s before you consider the snow plowing and use of the clubhouse, swimming pool, tennis court, playground, putting green, and most importantly- the bocce ball court.

While I didn’t spend the weekend at the South Shore Club living a life of high style on the shores of Geneva Lake, you most certainly could. If you’d like to turn my didn’ts into your dids, please consider emailing me and then driving up this week for your private tour of this amazing, and increasingly affordable, property.