A condominium is a special form of real estate. When you own a condominium you are either an anonymous part of a large building or you’re intimately involved as a partner in the business of running a small brownstone or 2-3 family house.
With either choice you have to understand the risks and the rewards. Before buying, you need to examine the condominium documents, budgets, finances, and minutes from Board Meetings. That’s where we can help.
What we’ve learned
We’ve represented buyers and sellers of condominiums since condos first became popular in Massachusetts. What we’ve learned through experience is that a buyer can’t rely upon information provided by others, because what sellers and brokers know and provide is often incomplete.
You have to do your homework.
Once an offer is accepted by a client, we begin a “due diligence” process. We request and examine the financial statements, meeting minutes of the Board of Directors, Trustees or Managers, and other information provided. Aside from what your broker may acquire, we also conduct our own title research; obtain the recorded condominium organizational documents; and copies of any liens on the property. We know what questions to ask, what documents to look for and most importantly what red flags to avoid.
As a buyer our due diligence is customized for you. You wouldn’t, for example, buy a condo that won’t accept your pet, or as an investor one that prohibits rentals. And you don’t want to be surprised about a special assessment that you’ll inherit post-purchase.
As a seller you wouldn’t want to get a phone call months after a closing because you didn’t provide a document that your attorney could easily have found by an online search or information that could have been simply obtained.
That’s why our clients refer their friends, family and colleagues to us when buying or selling a condo. They like our approach and they like our attention to detail.