by Michael H Wasserman Tragedy in Sunrise, Florida and now Waukesha, Wisconsin . Authorities ordered the emergency evacuation of another condominium building late last week. Deemed to be at risk of imminent collapse. Structural and life safety problems noted after a wind storm sheared some exterior elements off a couple of years ago. Led to a balcony reconstruction project, which in turn revealed far worse structural deterioration. Of a building (only) 50 years old. 80 or so people forced to leave their homes with no advance warning. Fannie Mae’s October lender letter tightened lending guidelines in buildings with too much deferred maintenance. Inadequate reserves. Associations lacking the political will to take on the challenges of funding and orchestrating necessary structural and safety repairs. Whether they are brought to light by municipal inspections or the associations own investigations or capital reserve studies. Fannie will not loan money into buildings with structural defect
by Michael H. Wasserman Flippers. Wholesalers. I-buying fin-tech disrupters. Publicly traded REITS. Private equity firms. Boot-strap investors. All out on the prowl for opportunities. It's never been easier for Chicago area owners to sell homes directly. But should you? What can possibly go wrong? Read on to learn the unpleasant truth, and the things you can do to make the most of these no-broker deals. It may start with a series of unsolicited offers. Out of the blue. First a letter. Then another. (Look – this one's on yellow stationary!) A note left in the mailbox. A knock at the door. Maybe the allure of those ads on tv and the net. That billboard you keep driving past. Same deal. "We'd like to buy your house. Just us. No middlemen. No realtors. You won't have to pay anyone's commission. We can pay all cash. Close in two weeks if you want. What do say"? The money sure would be nice. More house than you need. Getting harder to keep it up. Money i