Condos and 55+ Communities in Framingham: Read the Papers First

Before you look at condos and 55+ communities in Framingham, answer one question. What do you want to stop doing? Shoveling, mowing, climbing stairs, keeping up a roof? Your answer picks the kind of home better than any listing can.

I'm Ann Atamian, Global Real Estate Advisor with Gibson Sotheby's International Realty. I work with homeowners leaving a house they have lived in for decades and buying something smaller next. Framingham's housing includes condominiums as well as single-family homes from many different periods, so there are real choices here.

Every condo association sets its own fee and decides what that fee pays for. Never assume. Ask to see the budget and ask what is included, such as snow removal, landscaping, trash, the association's insurance policy and exterior repairs. Ask how the association saves for big projects and whether a special assessment has been discussed. A special assessment is a charge to owners on top of the monthly fee, and the meeting minutes are one place you may see one coming.

When you compare a condo to a single-level house, compare the full monthly cost of each. A condo fee can look high until you add up what a house asks of you in snow, yard and roof. A house can look cheaper until the first big repair. In reality, neither choice is wrong. Each one asks something different of you.

A 55+ community sets its own age requirements in its own documents. Ask for them and read them, along with the fee, the rules and what the association maintains. Ask how resale works too, because some day you will be the seller, and the next buyer will read the same papers.

Location still matters in a smaller home. Think about how far you'll be from the people and places you see every week, from groceries and healthcare along Route 9 to a walk at Garden in the Woods or Callahan State Park. Framingham puts Shoppers World and the Natick Mall close by and gives you the Mass Pike when you need to get somewhere farther.

If you are considering condos and 55+ communities in Framingham, send me the listings that caught your eye. I'll ask for the documents first, so you know the fee, the rules and the pet policy before you spend a Saturday touring. Send me a note and we'll start there. More about the city is on my Framingham area page.