Estimate when your Paragraph 12 inspection period ends—and understand what buyers may investigate, what sellers should expect and what discovering a problem really means.
Enter the Effective Date and the number of days written in Paragraph 12 of your executed contract.
During the negotiated inspection period, the buyer may have the inspections the buyer desires performed. If the property is unacceptable in the buyer’s sole discretion, the buyer may terminate by delivering timely written notice.
Review Florida Realtors’ contract resources →A conventional home inspection is only one part of due diligence. Some of the most consequential issues require separate searches, specialists or association records.
Search for open, expired or needed permits and compare permitted work with the property’s present condition. Paragraph 12 requires cooperation but does not automatically require the seller to spend money resolving permit issues.
Investigate code-enforcement cases, utility balances and municipal matters. A current violation and a recorded monetary lien are not the same—and each can create a different risk.
Review the estoppel, outstanding balances, noticed violations, special assessments, architectural issues, rental restrictions and approval requirements. A violation is not automatically a title defect.
Consider roof age, four-point and wind-mitigation inspections, flood exposure, prior claims and the actual cost and availability of coverage before the deadline expires.
Depending on the property, consider sewer scopes, septic systems, wells and water quality, pools, mold, environmental concerns, seawalls or structural and engineering evaluations.
The inspection period is an active due-diligence window. Sellers should stay flexible until it ends and the buyer’s position is known.
The buyer may pursue the inspections the buyer desires—not only a general home inspection—within the rights and limitations of the contract.
Financing or insurance may produce additional requirements such as water-quality testing, a four-point inspection, wind mitigation or an engineering report.
A buyer may determine in the buyer’s sole discretion that the property is unacceptable and terminate through timely written notice during the negotiated period.
Expect to provide access, maintain utilities and cooperate regarding inspection and permit information. Buyers are responsible for promptly paying for inspections and repairing inspection damage.
Avoid nonrefundable moving, housing, travel or purchasing commitments during the inspection period. Do not make plans you cannot unwind if the buyer timely cancels.
Inspection findings do not produce only one outcome. The contract, financing, title commitment and the parties’ decisions determine what happens next.
Deliver written notice before the inspection period expires when the buyer elects to exercise the Paragraph 12 termination right.
Request a repair, credit, price adjustment, escrow holdback or other written solution. The seller may accept, reject or counter the request.
The buyer may accept an open permit, violation or physical condition and become responsible for addressing it after closing.
A fully informed cash buyer may sometimes agree to close with an identified title matter excepted from coverage, subject to the contract, closing agent and title insurer.
A Florida residential seller must disclose known facts materially affecting the property’s value when they are not readily observable and are not already known to the buyer. That duty is different from agreeing to repair or cure the disclosed condition.
Review Florida Realtors’ disclosure guidance →Keep a separate record for the escrow deposit, inspection period, financing and closing. Your signed documents control each obligation.
DW&Co. helps Florida buyers and sellers understand the timeline, organize due diligence and make informed decisions before important contract rights expire.
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