Lake Geneva Waterfront Home Sells for $8.7M

A waterfront home in Lake Geneva sold for $8.7 million, becoming the latest high-end home to sell fast in the Wisconsin resort town.

The house was listed as “coming soon” in the Milwaukee-area MLS in late August by Bob Webster of Compass. It officially hit the market Sept. 2 and went under contract the next day. The house sold for $15,000 over the asking price.

The 9,000 square-foot lakehouse at N2224 Bonnie Brae Lane was the latest to find a buyer lightning fast in the resort town, where public listings are slim and demand on the second home market is strong. It features five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms and sits on a 1-acre lot with 110 feet of beach frontage. David Curry, who represented the buyer, could not be reached for comment.

Webster previously told The Real Deal that demand in the region is as higher than he’s ever seen it, and he said he received huge interest in two recent listings.

“If we see some other things coming on the market here between now and the end of the year, I would predict that we’d see a similar quick response from the market with anything in that kind of a price range,” Webster said

He has another listing on South Lake Shore Drive in Lake Geneva that went under contract within a few days of listing at $9.8 million, and Webster expects it to close Oct. 31. Both were listed on the Milwaukee-area MLS using a delayed listing, which markets the property as “coming soon” to other brokers and on some listing services before it officially goes on the market.

Several houses priced higher than $5 million have gone on the market this year and found buyers quickly in Lake Geneva. Last week, a 7,500 square-foot lakefront house on Bayview Drive sold about a month after hitting the market, after going under contract in six days, according to listing services. And in the last month, two more properties priced at $5 million and above found buyers in days: A $7.4 million house on Hillside Drive was listed Sept. 24 and went under contract Oct 2. Another lakefront house on Park Drive, listed for $6 million, hit the market Oct. 1 and found a buyer the same day.

A few of those listings have also used the delayed listing strategy to market properties to brokers as “coming soon” on the MLS before going public. It appears to be contributing to quick sales, as brokers have a few days to share the listings with clients before they start accruing days on market.

The pricey deals are driven largely by the low inventory on the lake as most owners are not interested in selling their valuable lakefront property, Webster said. But he noted that the speed of the deals and high value being commanded by recent listings may coax some sellers to come out of the woodwork.

“If they had been considering whether this is the right year or the right season or the right time, based on their circumstances, when they see these properties coming out and selling quickly, they conclude that this should be a really good time for them to consider it as well,” he said.

At the Bonnie Brae Lane property, Webster said the seller accepted the first offer that came in on the house. He said the buyer is from Illinois and purchased the property as a second home.

The new buyer has still not been disclosed. Public records list the previous owners as Thomas and Margaret Riordan.