August 11, 2009

Summer garden at the lake house - Wordless Wednesday

Posted to Geneva Lake Area , Mike Pfammatter, Wordless Wednesday


Photo by Mike Pfammatter


Posted by:Mike Pfammatter



August 10, 2009

Looking to buy a lake home? Here's some information on Wisconsin lake living

Posted to Delavan, Geneva Lake Area , Mike Pfammatter

I recently received this question from a prospective lake home buyer.

“Thanks for sending the information. We are in the process of looking these over and I’m sure we will have some questions for you soon. One thing I was trying to figure out is how to get more comfortable with differentiating the quality of the lakes and amenities (private access to sandy beach, very swimmable, community pier, etc…). How would you rate the following lakes.

Delavan, Geneva, Beulah, Twin Lakes, & Lauderdale Lakes

If you can give me your opinion on how you would rate them, that would help us in our prioritization.”

This was my reply:

What a great question! The answer relies on how you feel on a number of variables. I think more important than how I would rate them, is where they fall for you. Let me share some thoughts on this with you.

Here are the main criteria to me - in what I consider some order of importance:

  • Size - surface area, depth
  • Clarity of water and bottom make up - how “swimmable” is it?
  • Proximity to where you live
  • Amenities, shopping, & dining in the area
  • Affordability
  • Peace and quiet factor

Geneva Lake (5500 acres, 135 ft deep, very clear and gravel bottom) is the jewel of the area. It wins hands down in the size, swim-ability, and amenity areas. The property is more expensive here than any of the other lakes. It ranks in the upper half for proximity, and in the lower half for peace and quiet.

Delavan (2200 acres, 65 ft deep, medium clarity, natural bottom) is also a reasonable distance for most, and much more affordable. It’s still a nice large body of water, but it is the least swimmable of the group, and the housing is more dense than most other lakes.

The other three lakes are all between 450 and 900 acres. All of them rate between Geneva and Delavan for clarity and swim-ability. They have mixed bottoms, but most areas are sand or gravel. They are all good swimming lakes.

Beulah and Lauderdale have by far the lease dense housing, they are both more out in the county, but further to drive to. The prices are good when compared to properties on the other 3 lakes, but tend to start at a higher price point.

Twin Lakes, being the closest to the Chicago urban area is an easy drive for most, has a wide range of price and quality, and still has very enjoyable water. Density is as high here as any of the lakes you mentioned.

For me and my family it’s all about the water, and we really like the restaurants and fun in downtown Lake Geneva. I have had a modest home in an association with private lake rights on Geneva Lake for a long time, and I don’t ever think about moving.

If I were choosing now, I would ask myself where my priorities lie and rank the lakes that way. I bet you won’t be disappointed with a home near any one of these lakes, and would even suggest you consider some of the great other smaller lakes like Powers & Whitewater.

If you pick a few homes on each lake I will be happy to show you around all of them. Most people know which lake is right for them when they see it.


Posted by:Mike Pfammatter