Buying a Condominium in Greater Boston: What to Read Before You Bid

A condominium purchase is two purchases: the unit, and a share in an organisation. Most buyers spend their time on the first and almost none on the second, and every condominium problem you will ever have comes from the second.

What you are actually buying

Under Massachusetts condominium law, you own your unit and an undivided percentage interest in the common areas. Your percentage sets your share of the common expenses and your voting weight. Everything else — what you may alter, what happens to the roof, who insures what — is set by the master deed, the bylaws, and the association's rules and regulations.

Get all three, and read them.

The financial documents, and what to look for

The current budget and the last two years of financials. You are looking for whether the association operates at a surplus, and whether the fee has been raised in line with costs or held artificially low.

The reserve balance and the reserve study. This is the single most important number in a condominium purchase. A reserve study estimates the remaining life of the roof, the boilers, the elevator, the parking deck and the siding, and how much should be set aside each year. An association with thin reserves and an ageing roof has a special assessment in its future — the only question is when it lands and how large it is.

A low fee is not good news. A fee that is low relative to the building's age and amenities usually means the association is underfunding its reserves, and that the money will be collected later, all at once, from whoever owns the unit at the time. That may be you.

Meeting minutes for the last twelve to twenty-four months. This is where the real information is: the disputes, the leaks, the litigation, the assessment being discussed, the owner who has not paid. Ask for them specifically. Many buyers never do.

Special assessments, past and pending. Ask directly whether one is under discussion. "Under discussion" does not appear in the financials.

The insurance questions

Two policies exist and buyers routinely misunderstand the boundary.

The master policy covers the building, and the master deed defines where its coverage stops — at the studs, at the drywall, or including original fixtures. This varies and it matters.
Your HO-6 policy covers everything on your side of that line, your belongings, and your liability.

Two things to check: the master policy deductible, which can be very large and which the association may be able to pass through to a unit owner whose unit caused the loss; and loss assessment coverage on your HO-6, which is cheap and which covers your share of an assessment arising from an insured loss.

Why lenders decline condominiums

Financing a condominium can fail for reasons that have nothing to do with you. Lenders review the association, and they look at:

Owner-occupancy ratio. A building that is heavily investor-owned is harder to finance.
Delinquency rate. Too many owners behind on fees and the building fails review.
Concentration. One party owning too many units.
Litigation. Pending litigation involving the association, particularly over construction defects, can make a building unfinanceable.
Reserve funding, against a minimum percentage of the annual budget.
Commercial space in a mixed-use building above a threshold.

Ask your lender to review the association early — not the week before closing. A building that fails review is a building you cannot buy with that loan.

The rules that will affect your life

Pets. Number, size, breed restrictions.
Rentals. Minimum lease terms, caps on the number of rented units, outright bans, and whether short-term letting is permitted. If any part of your plan involves renting the unit, read this clause before you bid.
Alterations. What needs approval, including flooring — hard-surface flooring restrictions in units above the ground floor are extremely common and frequently discovered after purchase.
Parking and storage. Whether they are deeded, assigned, or licensed, and whether they can be transferred with the unit.
Move-in procedures, elevator reservations, and fees.

New England building types have their own patterns

A three-unit condominium conversion in a 1900 two-family is a very different proposition from a 200-unit managed building.

Small associations (2–6 units) often self-manage. Fees are lower because there is less service, decisions require unanimity in practice, reserves are frequently minimal, and a new roof is split three ways with no fund to draw on. Confirm they hold a proper master policy and that fees are actually collected.

Conversions in older housing stock carry the same issues as any old building: knob-and-tube, lead paint, single-pane windows, and sound transmission between units. Ask what was actually done at conversion and what was left.

Larger managed buildings have professional management, real reserves and more amenities, and higher fees to pay for them. The trade is money for predictability.

At closing: the 6(d) certificate

A unit cannot be conveyed free of the association's lien without a 6(d) certificate confirming that common charges are paid. The seller obtains it from the association, it takes days rather than hours, and it is a routine cause of delayed closings. The full closing checklist is in what Massachusetts sellers must have ready.

Is a condominium the right instrument?

If you want to lock the front door and leave for three weeks, if you do not want to own a roof, or if the alternative single-family in that town is out of reach, then yes — and Greater Boston has a deep, liquid condominium market.

Just price it honestly. The fee is part of your housing cost forever, it will rise, and your lender counts it in qualifying you. Two units at the same price with a $300 and a $900 monthly fee are not the same purchase. The affordability calculators will show you exactly what that difference does to what you can borrow.

General guidance current as of 2026. The governing documents of the specific association, and your attorney's review of them, are the authority.