Growing up in Chicago, the neighborhood dream was to own a “three flat,” where the building owner could rent two flats and live rent free in the third. The owner would often live a frugal existence by maintaining the building, shoveling the snow and doing the repairs. In the summer you could see them happily watering the grass, standing in “Dago T’s, short pants with black socks and sandals, listening to a transistor radio. The basement became a multi-purpose area—part laundry room, part workshop and part party room for family gatherings.

Food would fill the folding tables and generations would sit around for hours on folding chairs talking, eating and laughing. Many of these owners purchased these building with cash or put up significant down payments and worked very hard to pay off their mortgages. Foreclosure or defaulting on the mortgage was never an option. The building became an annuity and their retirement plan as property values increased. Owners would often work another job to generate some income and lived a debt-free, comfortable lifestyle. ...

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