Gimmick Central

There are several ways in which I’m aware of my age. For starters, when I play tennis on a Monday I’m still sore on a Wednesday. That’s not entirely unique, … Read more

Lake Geneva Commissions

Well, that just about does it. The National Association of Realtors settled the BOMBSHELL commission lawsuit last Friday and now everything has changed. Six Percent Commissions Are Toast, some of … Read more

Tops

I’m well aware that it’s tedious to listen to me drone on and on about how many homes I’ve sold. I really don’t enjoy it, but I’m just not quite … Read more

Cheerleader

It can be exhausting to continually cheer for something for a long, long time. This is why Cubs fans were so relieved in 2016 when we finally won the World … Read more

Commissions

You’ve likely seen the headlines out of Kansas, which is a statement that no one in Wisconsin had ever uttered before the recent ruling against several large national brokerages and … Read more

Lake Geneva Sales

My son is contemplating going to law school. When I was 20, I did not contemplate this. I was contemplating whether or not I had a house I could sell … Read more

2023

You probably already know I struggle with oversharing on this blog once in a while. That’s why I’ve written about that time I noticed my toenails were less than they … Read more

RIP

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

Gross

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

Tops

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

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

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

World Wide Web

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

Pricing Strategy

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

Of Lenders and Bubbles

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.

Inflation

I have a friend who is remarkably smart. It bothers me that he’s so smart. Have a thought? It’s wrong. How could he know it’s wrong? Because he’s smart. While … Read more

Risk On

Risk is inherent in life, but it’s often ignored in residential real estate transactions. It shouldn’t be.

Chicken

If you’re negotiating to buy or sell real estate, honesty is important. But it’s not just honesty from your broker, it’s your honesty that matters, too.

Glenwood Springs Fontana

Lake Geneva Development

Development is good and necessary. Or is it? This hot market is bound to product some bad development, and we should prepare for the coming fight.

Welcome, 2020

2019 was a terrific year. But now it’s gone and it’s time to focus on the task at hand: 2020.

Out Of Towners

I blame the television for this one. I also blame the internet, but it should be argued that the bulk of this blame lies with the television. Namely,

Sail Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Chicago

One of the reasons I’m bad at this business is that I tend to give people too much credit. I can’t market gimmicks. I’m incapable. Stop in to my open … Read more

Williams Bay Property Taxes

Tis the season for dreading the mail. There’s something nice about the season, relating to the mail, I suppose. Each day, my mailbox is full to overflowing. Will there be … Read more

Traps

There are things that I dislike about this business. You know this. I dislike the lack of respect that plagues this career, even while I understand it. I dislike the … Read more

Big Foot Referendum

I went to high school in the basement of a church.  To be fair, not all classes were in the basement. Our homeroom was in the kitchen of Calvary Community … Read more

Compass, Et Al

It should come as no surprise that there’s a competition to be what’s next. In this context, we should capitalize What’s Next.  If you own a business that makes money, … Read more

Discernment

A few weeks ago, I wrote an offer on a property on behalf of a buyer. This is no feat. There is no trick to this. It’s just a form … Read more

Lake Geneva Realtors

There’s nothing that makes me hate my chosen profession more than leafing through a local glossy magazine. There are lots of glossies here, most notably that Summer Homes For City … Read more

Lake Geneva Buyers

It’s summer of 2018 and you’re in Lake Geneva.  You’ve done several things right to make it here. You’ve made strategic decisions that have led to this point. You’ve endured … Read more

Pricing Temptation

If you own a lakefront or lake access home in the Lake Geneva market, you’re well aware of the increased broker competition in our area. New agents, new brokers, new … Read more

New Lakefront Listing Geneva Lake

Tax Time

If you’re lucky enough to be a Lake Geneva vacation home owner, then you’re unlucky enough to be unwrapping Walworth County’s most untimely gift: Your property tax bill.  When I’m … Read more

Perspective Sadness

This very well could have been the Cubs Didn’t Get Swept But They’re Still Terrible Sadness post, but that wasn’t really bothering me this morning. The Cubs were beat by … Read more

Of Agents and Inuendos

This is serious. You’ve been having the pain in your knee for quite some time. It bothered you during your junior year, but what could really, truly bother you then? … Read more

Shameless

This feels gratuitous, but I have to do it anyway. I could babble on and on about being the underdog,  or tell you about how mightily I struggled for the … Read more

Weekend Caller

We need to have an honest discussion. It’s rare, in any business involving sales, to have such a conversation, but converse we must.  This is about me, sure, but it’s … Read more

Descriptors

I might have figured out what’s wrong with me. It’s not that I don’t want to write something every other morning, as I have for the past nine years. I … Read more

Spring Break

Well, it’s just me here now. Everyone else has left. The roads are quiet. The houses dark, excepting the one lamp left on to ward away any robbers.  But we … Read more

Ready For Sale

I’d like to think, after twenty years in this chair, that I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen sellers and buyers of all makes and models, the good, the bad, and … Read more

The Rent

I’m staring out my office window at an automotive repair shop. This shop just opened, even though the sign says Opening Soon. Will that sign be replaced with a Now Open sign? … Read more

About Your Agent

The business of listing homes is a curious one. If we were going about this business of finding a broker and an agent, we’d assume we’d look at our options … Read more

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Regrets

I like to brag about certain things. For instance, I have a black SuperJet and there’s very little chance that you do as well. I have one, you don’t. It’s … Read more

Walworth County

There’s a problem in Walworth County. It isn’t that our fields are lush and our lakes wet.  It’s not that our towns are busy and our streets are clean and … Read more

Home Improvement

The seller had a tree in her yard that had died many years ago. The tree first lost its leaves. Then it lost some branches, and then, some bark. The … Read more

Sail Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Trust Fall

A sudden twinge of pain. A shallow breath. A pain here, another there. The symptoms of something, but of what? A quick google search reveals what you already suspected. You’re … Read more

Sellers, Wake Up

I suppose we all pick and choose. We pick the data that supports our positions, whether the decisions involve personal choices or business decisions. We pick the favorable bits, discard the … Read more

Ban Words

Apparently, BAE means “Before Anyone Else”. All this time I just thought it meant Babe, but without the B. I thought it was just a time saver that gained popularity … Read more

The Hunt

How I wish I were a doctor. When you’re a doctor and you travel, you get to tell people what you do. You’re a doctor. That’s what you do. It … Read more

The New Game

There’s something changing in the Lake Geneva real estate market. The change is mostly involving the lakefront market, but there’s little doubt that this change will make its way through … Read more