OT: text in Illustrator vs FH

Hi list,
In Freehand you have the option to make text boxes auto-expandable, both vertically and horizontally.
In Illustrator 'point-type' expands by default, while 'area-type' needs to be expanded manually.
All my FH text came into Illustrator as 'area type'.
Is it possible to make thes text boxes to expand automatically in Illustrator?
Thanks,
Willem van den Goorbergh