Immaculate Lake Geneva ranch home with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths on 106’ of ideal level frontage, within walking distance to downtown. Meticulously maintained inside and out with panoramic views of the lake. Custom designed DeGiulio kitchen with granite countertops, spacious master bedroom with fireplace and fabulous master bath. Delightful finished lower level with 2nd kitchen, full bath and family room with walkout to secluded patio and entertainment area. Beautifully landscaped grounds with fenced in yard.
 

Whispering Oaks Lodge, a spectacular 5 bedroom, 5.5 bath home, w/gourmet kitchen, on Lake Geneva. Constructed of 18'' Canadian Logs, Snake River stone, Italian marble, & Austrian wood floors, this unique home is 9300 total SF & automated with 142 motorized windows & drapes, & commercial grade mechanical systems. In historic Loramoor, this home has an antique granite Chicago paver driveway, over an acre of extensively landscaped grounds, pool w/126' of lakefront & expansive pier w/two canopied 34’ slips.

 

Fabulous like new “Engerman” Lake Geneva lakefront home on 103’ of ideal North Shore frontage. Impressive finishes including wood floors, custom millwork, cathedral ceilings, 2 stone fireplaces, four bedrooms and 6.5 baths, three finished levels including an upper level bonus room and full walkout lower level. Amazing kitchen with granite counters and Wolf range. Huge deck with retractable screens, large paver patio, 5 car garage, spacious yard, outstanding lake views, great pier with two canopied slips.

 

Don't miss your chance to enjoy boating on Lake Geneva in 2012 with this Dockominium unit priced below market and in one of the most sought after locations. An opportunity to find an affordably priced boat slip dockominium at the Abbey Marina in Fontana. This is the middle sized A/B slip that is 11'x30' in size and is conveniently located on the 200 pier which is the 2nd pier over from the Harbor House. Owners have the right to use the Harbor House restroom facilities and enjoy the use of the outdoor pool.

 

This affordable Abbey Dockominium boat slip is located in The Abbey Marina adjacent to the Abbey Resort and offers a great opportunity for anyone looking for a home with a transferable slip in the Fontana area. Convenient parking available near the slip. Use of the Harbor House restroom facilities and showers is included as well as the outdoor pool next to the Harbor House. Priced below fair market value, don't miss this opportunity to enjoy boating on Lake Geneva in 2012.

 

Immaculate Lake Geneva lakefront on 87' of ideal level frontage. Four bedrooms and 3.5 baths with impressive master bedroom and bath on main floor with slider to 3 season porch and hot tub. Bright open concept with two story high living room and stone fireplace. Bright spacious kitchen with dinette overlooking the lake and formal dining room. Extensive hardwood floors, trim and crown molding. Upper family room with deck overlooking lake. Huge deck with private patio area, impressive pier with 2 slips.

 

This fabulous Lake Geneva lakefront is located in Fontana with 159' of ideal level frontage, outstanding views of the lake and even its own boathouse. The impressive tree lined driveway entrance from South Shore Drive highlights the spacious grounds leading down to the home. The current 6 bedroom 4.5 bath home is older and dated with no value considered for the structure. The lot is over 700' in depth and over 2.5 acres in size with all the value attributable to the land and rarely obtainable boathouse.
 

Impressive 5 bedroom home located on the golf course in Abbey Springs. Bright and open floor plan with two story entry foyer, wood floors and dramatic 3 sided fireplace. Fabulous kitchen and main floor master bedroom with adjoining sunroom. Upper level loft area with two bedrooms and shared bath. Walkout lower level with huge wet bar & family room, exercise room, game room and indoor children's pool and sauna. Large deck and patio area. 3 car garage. Enjoy golf, indoor & outdoor pools and Lake Geneva access
 

 Impressive 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath home with ownership of 12' of Lake Geneva lake frontage. Shared use of it's own pier with one other family and exclusive use of shore station on Lake Geneva. The home has been beautifully updated w/new kitchen & baths. Warm rustic feeling inside w/wood floors and cathedral ceilings, a lower level family room with walkout to private fenced yard. The upper level great room is spacious with great views. All the works been done. Just come and enjoy. Large deck and 4 car garage.
 

Affordable vacant building site in Country Club Estates with lake rights to Lake Geneva. The lot is exceptionally wide with 165' of frontage on Hillcrest Dr. The location is within walking distance to Geneva Lake and the sand swim beach adjacent to the private Country Club Estates Association pier. It is also within walking distance to the Country Club Estates 9 hole golf course. The lot is wooded and has access to water and sewer services. Here is a rare opportunity to find a desirable building site.
 

Fabulous 4 bedroom, 4 bath luxurious condominium unit in Stone Manor on the shores of Lake Geneva. Outstanding views and a transferable boat slip are included with this tastefully renovated and updated unit. One of a kind rooftop pool and patio entertainment area with breathtaking views of the lake. 2 garage spaces. Here's your opportunity to own a piece of Lake Geneva history, over 400' of Lake frontage and approx. 10 gorgeous acres, home to just 5 families. Why not consider this your new lakefront home? $1,999,000

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Here is a quick update on the Lake Geneva real estate market for the 3rd week of January 2011. It's still a little early to have a good feel for where the market is headed here into the new year. December of 2010 was busier than we would normally expect for that time of year and many of us are hopeful that January will end up being the same. Interest rates continue to be extremely attractive and near record lows, even though there has been a slight increase in rates the last few weeks. There are a number of exceptional values in all segments of our market including primary homes, rural and country homes and condominiums, both with and without lake access. There are also some great values in the second home market with lake access and lakefront homes on the various lakes in the area, including Lake Geneva, Delavan Lake, Lauderdale Lake, Whitewater Lake, Lake Beulah, Twin Lakes and Powers Lake. 

Contact me today at Bob@LakeGenevaLakefront.com if you'd like to be receiving information on some of these great values as well as being notified as any new listings come on the market or Click Here for a complete overview of information on the various lakes in the area.

It was encouraging to see the stock market close over the 11,000 mark last Friday.  I think anything that helps people feel a little better and more positive about the economy in general will work to overcome the caution and conservative thinking that lots of people seem to have right now about making big ticket purchases like real estate, applicable to both the primary and second home markets. 

I’m afraid we’re in for a messy few weeks of political ads and mudslinging but hopefully we can come through the process and things will be a little clearer about deficits and possible tax increases that I think are also weighing on the minds of Buyers today, again if not directly, possibly indirectly in some cases. 

You’ve probably heard of talk over the last week about all the mortgage foreclosure problems and a possible moratorium on the ability of banks to proceed with foreclosures.  It’s hard to know what kind of positive or negative effect that could have on the real estate market over the next few weeks and months so we’ll just have to continue to follow that story, the link below will give you a short overview of the details. 

I attended a meeting last week regarding some rules changes from the Department of Natural Resources with regard to piers on lakes and waterways in the State of Wisconsin.  The information is a little confusing and there are going to be lots of questions about what a property owner should do.  My advice to waterfront property owners is to contact legal council to get advice on whether to register the pier at this time.  I attached a link below to an article that has some of the details of the rule changes. 

Mortgage interest rates have dropped again, 4.19% today on a 30 year fixed rate.  It certainly leads me to believe that potential Buyers in the market may very well come to the conclusion that the smart thing to do is buy today and lock in these very attractive rates, rather than roll the dice in hopes of rates going lower.  Between these low interest rates, the lowest in decades, and some great values in the market today, I’m hopeful we’ll see some business coming together over the coming weeks this Fall.

Home Foreclosures

New Pier Regulations

More Good News on Interest Rates

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with many of my Sellers about pricing recently and have been watching with interest the number of price reductions that are coming through the Multiple Listing Service on a daily basis.  I have to believe that these Sellers, taking a proactive approach toward trying to attract potential Buyers interest in their property, is the right and prudent approach today in dealing with all the caution and conservative thinking that seems to be plaguing Buyers today.  Attractive values and historically low interest rates will I believe eventually get some of these Buyers to take the plunge and get off the fence. 

I’m not sure what effect the current political climate is going to have on Buyers attitudes today.  Sometimes I feel that all the political wrangling, regardless of the facts of who’s right and who’s wrong, tends to dampen the spirits of even those of us who know that this is a good time to be in the market.  So I can only imagine how a Buyer might feel today when debating over a decision on a big ticket purchase like real estate, whether it’s a modest first time Buyer or a more elaborate second home purchaser. 

My crystal ball is rather cloudy on how this will all shake out come the end of the year when we look back at 2010 but I remain optimistic that the specifics of our real estate market, when compared to a lot of other markets across the country, will show that we have weathered the storm better. 

I ran across an interesting article this week from the Wall Street Journal that I thought you might find interesting called 10 Reasons to Buy a Home.  The best part of the article was the last few sentences.  And, finally, a lot of the "glut" simply won't matter: It's concentrated in a few areas, like Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.

Here's something you don't see everyday in Lake Geneva.  This home is located in Fontana overlooking the Abbey Harbor and was in the process of being torn down when I drove by it yesterday.  Because vacant real estate comes at such a premium in the Lake Geneva area, especially if it is on or near the lake with a view of the water, often homes with prime locations are torn down and rebuilt by the current owners or in some cases purchased for just the land and then rebuilt by the new owner.

As I’ve indicated the last few weeks, the signs of an increase in calls and inquires continues and I think we will see that resulting in more showings in the near future, but it hasn’t really happened as of yet.  Knowing that the average time between accepted offer and closing tends to run between 30 and 45 days, it is still too early to have any measureable signs of an increase in the actual closings YTD. 

I’m having lots of conversations with potential Buyers of various types of property and various price ranges in the Lake Geneva real estate market and there continues to be a concern by many about whether this is the right time to move forward with a purchase.  I even had a conversation with an appraiser yesterday who called me looking for some help with a refinance appraisal he was working on and he came right out and asked how we are able to come up with price recommendations these days with such mixed signals in the market and a lack of actual recent sales to go by.  It’s actually a good question. 

I had occasion to sit in on a speech this week given by an economist for Stewart Title whose credentials includes a PhD in finance with a minor in statistics and a master’s degree in land economics and real estate from Texas A&M University.  He had some very interesting things to say about the real estate market, not all of it positive and many comments about what’s going on in Washington these days with spending.  His outlook for the future of commercial real estate was extremely negative but he had a rather mixed message for residential real estate.  I don’t tend to put too much stock in prognosticators these days but his talk was filled with a lot of very specific charts and statistics.  His main point of focus was on the number of home sales as a leading indicator of the future and not on average sale prices, which is what much of the media tends to focus on.  His point being that with a high number short sales and bank owned property being sold, it is only natural that the averages will go down as those sale numbers are reported.  Getting that inventory sold and off the market is actually a good thing and it doesn’t necessarily mean that overall values are declining.  If you have any interest in viewing his Power Point presentation, drop me an Email message and I’ll be happy to pass it along.