Business

Commissions

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Chicken

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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