Do you know anything about Special Assets Management Association (mysama.org)?

You could obviously get them cheaper at the big box stores, but my last two houses have had a couple unusually large windows so I would have had to special order them since the big box stores didn't stock anything as big as I needed.

Did you do anything special to the brick to cause this, or is it just the angle/lighting of the picture?

Today, there are real estate agents that specialize in those industries and can help you get the experience you need to do it right the first time.

Josh I have talked about this many times.On the residential side all these scammers used to exist.Sell the loan off so they didn't care and closed up shop when it fell apart.Now that residential is under huge government regs they have all moved to the commercial side.All of these people advertising many are just helpless point and fee takers getting sucked up into the scam.Many of these so called lenders are not lenders at all but mills running due diligence fees,insurance fees,deposit fees etc. and then say they can't fund later on to deny the deal.I have found direct lenders are very hard to find and I find one of those for every 20 scammers.As a buyer you do not pay upfront fees except for appraisal,survey etc.You can talk to these scammers on the phone and can tell by what they say they are not a true lender.I do very heavy lifting to make sure my lenders are real and I am not dealing with a middle man to protect my clients buying properties through me.Any company claiming to be a lender that will fund anything is more of a conduit (middle man) taking fees.A reputable lender will display recent closings and details of the loan.They will have very detailed rate sheets along with terms and conditions of the program.Any points will only be paid at closing when they perform.Many of these lenders will be highly specialized in a particular asset class and not broad in scope.The interest rates from legit lenders will be very close in percentage rate and LTV's.The difference being in how much money they have to lend and what loan size they specialize in and recourse versus non-recourse etc.Many lenders can promise but very few can deliver on the rates promised and close it.

You might check out Mark Kohler's web site and radio show - Tuesdays at 11 Pacific. markjkohler.comHe's an attorney and CPA who specializes in RE investing.

I just want to know if there is anyone out there in the Chicago area who specializes in this area and could possibly offer some mentoring advice for a guy just starting out?

I think I would have been freaking out had it not been for that specially designated reserve.

I'm sure Costco wouldn't be selling them if they weren't good products.

But there are also products with certain guaranteed min. returns, for example.So no, I wouldn't pay the bank $1000 (in interest, I assume) just to save $280.