126 W Maple Ave, Mundelein: three brothers bought a commercial building, converted it into six apartments and leased every unit themselves. Then the sale almost died — not over price, but over whether the village considered a residential building on commercial land conforming. Jason Bitton represented the sellers, brought the buyer, and cleared it in a thirty-minute trip to village hall. Closed May 2025, $1,360,000, all cash.
Three brothers bought 126 W Maple as a value-add play. The first two floors were commercial — a rehab facility and offices — and the third held two apartments. They converted the whole building into six units, then did something most investors do not: they leased every one of them themselves, on Facebook Marketplace and in local Facebook groups.
By the time it came to market it was a stabilized six-flat. On the village’s zoning map it was still sitting in a C-5 commercial district. The buyer’s attorney wanted a letter from the Village of Mundelein confirming the residential use was conforming; the seller’s attorney argued the occupancy permit already proved it. FOIA requests went out. Two weeks burned, and the closing date started to look unreachable — on a building where the price was agreed and the buyer was paying cash.
Neither attorney was wrong about the law. They were deadlocked on the paper. So Jason stopped waiting for the letters to resolve it and went to the Village of Mundelein in person in late April 2025, explained what the deal needed, and walked out with the letter confirming the use. About thirty minutes.
It was never a records request. It was a counter request, and routing it as a FOIA is what created the two weeks. With the letter in hand, the title company issued an ALTA 3.3 zoning endorsement for completed improvements, non-conforming — the endorsement that exists for exactly this situation — and both attorneys had what each had been asking for.
126 W Maple closed on 8 May 2025 for $1,360,000, all cash, across both parcels. It came to market on 4 March at $1,795,000; thirteen days later it was repriced to $1,465,000, and it was under contract on 1 April. Finding out fast that a number is wrong is worth more than defending it for a season.
“It was never a records request. It was a counter request.”
Convert a building’s use — commercial to residential, industrial to retail, anything that no longer matches the district on the zoning map — and you have created a document you will need at closing. You will not find out until an attorney asks for it.
It depends on the building's use and its history, and the Village of Mundelein is the authority, not the listing. At 126 W Maple a fully residential six-unit building sat in a C-5 commercial district. The village confirmed the use in writing, and that letter is what let the sale close. Check the specific building with the village before you list it or buy it.
Often, when the building's current use does not match its zoning district. A buyer's attorney or a title underwriter will usually ask the municipality to confirm in writing that the use is permitted or legally conforming. Getting that letter before you list avoids discovering the question during attorney review, when a delay can cost you the closing.
It is a title insurance endorsement for zoning on completed improvements, and a non-conforming version exists for buildings whose use does not match their district. On 126 W Maple the title company issued one after the village confirmed the use in writing. Your title company and your attorney decide what applies to a given property.
On this sale it took about thirty minutes, in person at village hall, in late April 2025. The same question had already gone out as FOIA requests and sat for two weeks. In Mundelein it is a counter request, not a records request, and routing it as a FOIA is what created the delay.
Tell Jason the building — he’ll tell you whether the use matches the district, what the village will want to see, and what it should sell for. Confidential, no obligation.
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