Sara E. Benson and Don DeBat, the authors of this myth-shattering book, are nationally known real estate experts. They are both veteran condo owners and residents, and it is their own experiences with the underbelly of condo living that led them to write this cautionary work. The authors have nearly 75 years of combined real estate experience, and both stepped across the threshold of “condo jail” in the late 1970s.

Sara E. Benson worked with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development as an independent fee appraiser, compliance inspector, field reviewer, and 203(k) construction inspector for more than 16 years. She has been in real estate brokerage and appraisal for three decades. Benson has worked with brokers across the country to promote consumer advocacy. She helped change Illinois state law and pioneered the innovative concept of exclusive buyer-brokerage representation. Benson purchased her first condo in 1979 and continues to own a condominium today.

Veteran author and journalist Don DeBat is a real estate investor and media consultant who served as an award-winning real estate editor of the Chicago Daily News and the Chicago Sun-Times for a combined total of 27 years. He has written hundreds of newspaper columns on condominium living and mortgage finance and has authored three books on real estate and finance. A consumer and housing advocate, DeBat was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1981.