Questions to ask before making an offer in Massachusetts

This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a Massachusetts real estate attorney before you sign anything.

You get roughly one weekend. Listing midweek. Open houses Saturday and Sunday. Offers often due Monday or Tuesday. In Massachusetts, a signed Offer to Purchase can bind you before the inspection and the condo packet arrive (McCarthy v. Tobin, 429 Mass. 84). Sellers also do not fill out a statewide “seller’s disclosure” form covering every defect. The statutory must-covers that show up most often for buyers are lead paint (for pre-1978 housing) and septic / Title 5 when the property is on a private system — everything else you dig up yourself.

So the useful object is not a 100-page report. It is a short list of questions: what is known, what is missing, who to ask, and what to request before you bid.

Eight categories to cover before the offer

Use this as a filter. If an answer would change your willingness to buy, your price, your contingencies, or your next call, keep it. If it would not, park it.

1. What you are actually buying

• Does the assessor card match the listing for bedrooms, bathrooms, living area, and lot size?
• Is a “bedroom,” finished basement, attic loft, or in-law suite backed by permits or a certificate of occupancy — or only by marketing language?
• What parking, storage, yard, roof deck, or exclusive-use areas convey with the deed or condo unit?
• Are there easements, shared driveways, or boundary questions visible on the deed or condo plans?

Assessor and GIS data help you spot mismatches. They do not, by themselves, prove legal use or title.

2. Full cash and carrying cost

• What is the current tax bill, and are there recent overrides, betterments, or water/sewer liens?
• For a condo: monthly fee, what it includes, and any known special assessment discussion.
• Flood zone status and whether lender-required flood insurance is likely.
• Insurance quotes for the building type (especially older multifamily and coastal risk).
• Cash needed at closing beyond down payment: prepaid taxes, condo transfer fees, owner’s title policy if you choose one, inspection costs.

Price is not the same as monthly life. Use a Loan Estimate-style worksheet (CFPB Owning a Home) before you bid.

3. Association and shared risk (condos and some HOAs)

• Current budget, reserve study or reserve balance, and recent or proposed special assessments.
• Master insurance: what it covers, deductibles, and whether unit owners need HO-6 coverage for the deductible.
• Delinquency rate among other units, litigation involving the association, and any Fannie Mae / FHA project eligibility flags your lender cares about.
• Rules that affect how you will live: pets, rentals, smoking, renovations, short-term leases.

Massachusetts condominiums are governed by M.G.L. c. 183A. Before closing, buyers typically need a § 6(d) statement of unpaid common expenses — often called the 6(d) / resale certificate. Ask for the full packet early.

4. Environment and health

• Year built: if before 1978, lead-paint transfer notification and inspection rights apply (see the Mass.gov lead-paint transfer notice and M.G.L. c. 111 lead provisions). If a child under 6 will live there, treat lead compliance as a pre-offer priority, not a post-closing surprise.
• FEMA flood zone and any prior claims the seller will disclose.
• Nearby MassDEP 21E / release sites and obvious oil-tank clues (older heating systems, fill pipes, fire-department tank records — often phone work, not a single online click).
• Radon and asbestos are inspection / specialist topics; public records rarely clear them.

5. Septic and private wells (when applicable)

• Is the property on municipal sewer or a septic system?
• If septic: is a current Title 5 inspection required for this transfer, and has a report been provided?
• Private well: recent water test, and whether the town Board of Health has file notes.

A failed septic replacement can be a five-figure project. Records may show system type; the report itself usually comes from the seller or your inspector.

6. Condition clues on the public record

• Building permits for roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, additions — and whether final inspections closed.
• Open or expired permits that could delay a closing.
• Age clues from permit history vs. what the listing claims about “new roof” or “updated systems.”

This is not a substitute for a licensed home inspection. Massachusetts restricts sellers from forcing inspection waivers as a condition of acceptance (M.G.L. c. 143, § 101; 760 CMR 74). See Massachusetts home inspection waiver ban. Keep the contingency; use records to aim the inspector.

7. Contract and exit ramps

• Which contingencies are in the Offer to Purchase, with calendar deadlines?
• Deposit amount, who holds it, and when it becomes non-refundable under each scenario.
• Whether the form’s binding-obligations language matches your intent (McCarthy).
• Lead inspection period and condo document review period, if applicable.
• Appraisal gap language: will you cover a shortfall in cash, and how much?

8. Fit for how you will live

• Commute and transit facts you care about — measured, not marketed.
• School assignment data from official district sources if schools matter to you. Prefer facts over rankings.
• Renovation limits: historic district, condo rules, zoning setbacks for the project you actually plan.

Fyts shows facts here. It does not rate neighborhoods or people.

Copy-paste catch list (send before Monday)

To the listing agent / seller

1. Please confirm bedrooms, bathrooms, and finished area against the assessor card, and explain any difference.
2. Please list what parking, storage, and exclusive-use areas convey, with the document that says so.
3. Are there any known special assessments, pending association votes, or major capital projects?
4. Please provide the condo association's meeting minutes for the last few years (and tell me how far back you can go), the current budget, reserve information, master insurance declarations page, and a draft or recent 6(d) / unpaid common expense statement.
5. Is the property on sewer or septic? If septic, please provide the latest Title 5 report and system location sketch.
6. For pre-1978 homes: please provide the lead-paint transfer notification package and any inspection or compliance documents already in hand.
7. Are there open building permits, unresolved violations, or unfinished permitted work?
8. Has the property ever had an underground oil tank, and are fire-department or removal records available? (See Underground oil tanks in Massachusetts.)

To your buyer’s agent / attorney

9. Does this OTP create binding obligations under Massachusetts practice, and which contingencies protect me until inspection and document review are done?
10. Is any requested inspection-waiver language consistent with M.G.L. c. 143, § 101 and 760 CMR 74?
11. What is my walk-away path and deposit exposure if the inspection, appraisal, financing, or condo docs fail?

To your lender / insurance broker

12. Will this condo project or property type clear underwriting as expected?
13. What hazard and flood insurance premiums should I underwrite before I bid?

How to use the list in 36 hours

1. Before the open house: pull the assessor card, flood map, and any online permits you can reach. Mark mismatches.
2. At the open house: ask the listing agent the copy-paste questions you still cannot answer from records.
3. Sunday night: decide which unknowns are deal-breakers vs. items you will carry only with a written contingency and a professional lined up Monday.
4. Before you sign: have your attorney read the OTP.

Missing evidence is not proof of a defect. It is a reason to ask, request a document, or keep a contingency.

For town walkthroughs of the same questions, see the Cambridge and Arlington house checklists. If you are buying without a buyer's agent, read Buying a house in Massachusetts without a buyer's agent.

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