The Parties That Contact You After a Fire
Within a fortnight of a reported fire an owner typically hears from several parties using similar language. They are not the same kind of business.
Masonry rehabbers. Contractors and small builders who specialise in restoring brick two-flats, three-flats and greystones. In Chicago this group matters more than in most cities, because a sound masonry shell after an interior fire is a genuine asset and they know how to value one. They fund from private capital and short-term lending, and they walk away from anything outside their build capacity.
Cash acquirers. Firms holding capital specifically to buy in damaged condition. They fund from their own balance sheet, take title in their own name and close on their own timetable. Usually fastest, rarely highest.
Wholesalers and assigners. They contract to buy and then sell that contract on. In Illinois this category is regulated, which is covered below and changes what you should ask them.
Land buyers and developers. Where zoning permits more than what burned, a developer may value the cleared lot above what any rehabber will pay for the building, because they are pricing what may be built.
Owner-occupant rehabbers. Individuals buying to restore and live in. They offer the most and complete the least often, because renovation financing requires an appraisal and inspection a fire-damaged building frequently cannot pass.
Which Type of Buyer Pays the Most for a Fire-Damaged Chicago Building?
The Illinois Licence Check Nobody Tells You About
Illinois is one of the strictest states in the country on contract assignment, and the rule gives a seller a verification step that does not exist in most markets.
How Do I Check Whether a Chicago Wholesaler Is Operating Legally?
Three details make this check unusually useful. The definition captures activity undertaken for oneself as well as on behalf of others, so "I buy in my own name" is not an answer to it. Activity is aggregated across entities under common ownership, so a party running deals through several limited liability companies is still counted as one. And enforcement carries civil penalties for unlicensed brokerage.
So the question to ask any party offering on your building is direct: do you intend to assign this contract, and are you licensed? A principal buyer who takes title needs no licence and will say so plainly. A party who evades the question has answered it. The statutory detail sits on our page covering Illinois disclosure and claim requirements.
Two More Free Checks Before You Commit
The recording search. The Cook County Clerk maintains the public property records index and absorbed the Recorder of Deeds function in December 2020. Search the buyer's exact legal entity name. A party that buys buildings has bought buildings, and those deeds are public. A company claiming years of local activity with no recorded acquisitions has told you something the marketing did not.
The proof of funds. A real proof of funds is a current bank or lender statement in the buying entity's name showing sufficient balance. A screenshot, an undated letter, or a reference to an unnamed capital partner is not proof of anything. Ask before you sign rather than after.
Red Flags Specific to This Market
No question about the masonry. Any competent Chicago buyer asks early whether the structure is brick or frame and whether the shell survived, because it moves their number more than anything else. A buyer who has not asked has not priced the job.
No question about the historic survey rating. A buyer planning to clear the lot needs to know whether the building carries an orange or red rating and whether a dangerous-condition determination exists. One who has not raised it is either inexperienced or will raise it later as a reason to reduce.
Pressure tied to your claim. Anyone urging you to sign before your insurer has finished is acting against your interest. Your carrier is working to fixed regulatory benchmarks, and knowing them removes most manufactured urgency.
A closing timeline borrowed from elsewhere. Illinois transactions customarily run through attorneys on both sides with a contractual review period. A buyer promising a timeline that ignores that has not closed here.
Where We Fit
We are a principal buyer. We purchase in our own entity with our own funds, we take title, and we do not assign contracts — which, given the Illinois rule above, is worth stating plainly rather than leaving you to work out.
Run every check on this page against us. Search our entity in the Clerk's property records. Ask for proof of funds. If anything fails to match what we have told you, walk away — and where the arithmetic on your building points somewhere other than a sale to us, our written figure will say that too. What the process looks like from there is on our page about how the process actually runs.
Questions About Buyers
Should I Take the Highest Offer?
Only after establishing it will close. Compare the figure, the funding, the contingencies and whether the contract can be assigned. A slightly lower offer from a party who has demonstrably closed before is usually worth more.
Does a Buyer Need a Licence to Buy My Building?
Not to buy it as a principal and take title. A licence is required to deal in assignable contracts as a pattern of business, which in Illinois means twice or more in twelve months.
How Many Offers Should I Get?
Two or three from different buyer types tells you the range. Beyond that you are repeating the exercise while the building carries cost and sits open to weather.