So its complicated...I need advice!

[Funmilola Oladini]

Hi guys!

So I'm a resident physician living in the Bay Area and my fiance owns a 3 BR 2 BA condo in the North Kenwood area in Chicago, a 6 unit multifamily condo building. The HOA was severely mismanaged by a self-managed HOA board that didn't really read the by-laws carefully and depleted funds over a pet-related lawsuit with an owner who is now short-selling. Simultaneously the building wasn't aware of the building made of split-face block, requiring sealant every 3-5 years. Based on how the building was built, apparently the CMU was only 4 inches thick and it's causing a lot of problems we have now with the face brick bulging and separating from the rest of the building- long story short this repair will cost at least $200K for the building, split roughly across 6 owners. Up to 3 owners out of 6 may be unable to afford the repair, and the HOA president, as a parting gift, submitted to partial receivership to oversee the repair prior to resigning from the board.

I was just starting to explore my options with real estate investing when this happened, and given that I still have a decent amount of money saved up (previously was planning to purchase a townhome in the Bay Area), I'm wondering if I can somehow turn this disaster into a salvageable situation. I've considered advocating for deconversion if up to 3 owners are unable to pay their portion of the repair. But should I be exploring other options given the funds that I have for a potential real estate investment?

Thanks in advance for your help on this issue. 

Lola