OCONOMOWOC — A home in Wisconsin's Lake Country has hit the market for $8 million. But take a closer look and you'll see chipped paint, busted windows, broken gutters, and mold on the outside of the wall. While a home like that certainly isn't worth $8 million, the land is that valuable.
Don't look at the Zillow listing to get an idea of square footage, number of bedrooms, or recent upgrades. The home at W343N6209 South Bayview Rd. on Okauchee Lake in Oconomowoc isn't meant for living it. It's a tear-down. The land itself is worth $8 million.
The plot of land on the north end of Okauchee Lake is about 2.4 acres and has 500 feet of lakeshore that wraps around the property. There are two homes and a boat house on the property, but all that will be torn down.
"They probably could be salvaged, but at this price, it just doesn’t make sense," Pat Bolger the listing realtorsaid.
The ideal buyer is one who has cash to spend and will likely build a $2, $3, or $4 million home on the lot. Bolger said this is becoming a more common practice.
"I recently have sold several tear-downs on Lac La Belle that all went for $2 million or more with quite a bit less frontage and less land. And then I recently sold another one on Okauchee Lake and that was again less frontage less land and that one sold for 2.4 million," Bolger said.
Lac La Belle is the neighboring lake. For the buyers who can afford it, tear-downs make sense.
"They don’t have any of the newer, modern amenities that our current buyers would like to have, and since they aren’t making any new land anymore, it makes sense to buy an older home on a really nice piece of property, take the house down, and then build a nice home."
This may usher in a new era of real estate in Lake Country. Currently, the vast majority of the higher-end homes in that region top out around $7 or $8 million, Bolger said. The new homes coupled with the property could easily result in valuations of millions more dollars.
"Some of these newer homes that have been built when they do go hit the market they'll probably be well over $10 million," Bolger said.
Given the size of the property on Bayview Road, Bolger and the owner have entertained the idea of splitting it into two parcles and selling them separately. The goal would be to sell it all together; however, they already have an offer for one-half of the land.
"The guy said, 'I want it. You know, I’ll give you the money right now.' But we are still going through the process to get all the permits and all the permissions for it," Bolger said.
Although, if that doesn’t happen, and it’s bought altogether, the value of the land with the new home would likely be between $10 and $15 million.
Watch the story on this home to see more views of the property and lake frontage...
