You were under contract on Tuesday. On Friday the inspection report landed and it is forty seven pages long.
Not one of the items is the roof. It is a loose handrail, two GFCI outlets, a slow drain, missing attic insulation, a crack in the driveway, and thirty eight other things you have lived with happily for eleven years.
And now your buyer’s agent is using the word “concerned.”
Nationally about one in seven contracts falls apart. Here it runs closer to one in six.
Jacksonville sat at 17.3 percent in July 2026. Tampa and Orlando were worse. Florida has several of the highest cancellation rates in the country, and most of them are not about the big stuff.
I’m Kady. I help Florida homeowners through foreclosure, hardship, inherited property, illness, divorce, and I buy and renovate houses. I am a Realtor with Momentum Realty.
I have my flips inspected twice. Once the day I buy them, before a single wall comes down, and again when the renovation is finished. People think that is excessive and it is not. It is the cheapest insurance I buy, because making a house pretty is one thing and making a buyer feel confident is a completely different thing, and the second one is what actually gets you to a closing table.
What I have learned doing that is the thing almost nobody says out loud. It is rarely the big item that kills a deal. The big item gets negotiated, because both sides can see it and put a number on it. What kills deals is a long list of small things that adds up in a buyer’s head until it stops feeling like a house and starts feeling like a liability.
So this is the article for the seller sitting with that report. What the numbers actually are, what your buyer can legally do in that window, what “as is” does and does not protect you from, the Florida specific way these deals die that nobody writes about, and what to do in the next seventy two hours.
About 14 percent of agreements that went under contract nationally fell through in July 2026, the highest share in nearly three years, and Jacksonville ran at 17.3 percent with Tampa at 18.0 and Orlando at 18.2. Under the Florida FAR/BAR AS IS contract the inspection period defaults to 15 days if the blank is left empty, and during it your buyer may cancel for any reason at all, with no defect required and no proof needed, provided written notice is delivered before the period expires. The deposit goes back. Under that form you have no obligation to make repairs. But “as is” does not let you stay quiet: under Johnson v. Davis you must still disclose known facts materially affecting value that a buyer cannot readily observe, plus the separate written flood disclosure under section 689.302, radon, property tax, lead paint on pre-1978 homes, and HOA or condominium disclosures. And in Florida there is a second way to lose a deal that has nothing to do with the home inspector: the four point and wind mitigation inspections, where a buyer cannot bind insurance and the financing dies with it.
- Do not panic at the page count. A long report is a thorough inspector, not a failing house.
- Your buyer can walk for any reason inside the inspection period. Negotiating is a choice they are making.
- A credit usually beats a repair. It is faster, cleaner and it ends the argument.
- As is does not cancel disclosure. Known material defects still have to be told.
- The insurance inspections can kill it even when the home inspection was fine. Roof age especially.
- Once you know, you own it. Anything an inspection reveals becomes something you disclose to the next buyer.
01The Actual Numbers
Let us start with whether this is you or whether this is everybody, because that changes how you should feel walking into the negotiation.
It is everybody.
In July 2026, about 14 percent of home sale agreements that went under contract nationally fell through. That is the highest share in nearly three years on a seasonally adjusted basis. One in seven, which is exactly the figure that gets quoted.
But the national number hides what is happening in this state.
Why are we worse here? Three reasons, and only one of them is about the condition of the house.
Insurance. No other state has this problem to this degree. A buyer in Ohio does not have a deal collapse because a carrier will not write a nineteen year old roof. A buyer here does, constantly, and that is covered in section 04.
Inventory. Resale inventory has rebuilt across Florida, and builders are competing hard with incentive packages. A buyer who feels crowded has very little reason to swallow a list of repairs when three other houses are available and a builder is offering twenty thousand dollars toward closing.
Caution. Buyers are paying more than they expected to pay for a house, in a state where insurance and taxes have both moved against them. They are nervous, and nervous buyers read a forty seven item list very differently from confident ones.
None of which is your fault, and all of which is worth knowing before you decide how hard to hold the line.
02The 15 Day Window And What Your Buyer Can Do
This part matters because most sellers misunderstand their own position, and that misunderstanding costs them either the deal or several thousand dollars.
Most Florida residential contracts use the FAR/BAR AS IS form. Inside it there is an inspection period, and if the blank is left empty it defaults to 15 days after the effective date. Whatever number is written in your signed contract is the one that controls, so go and look at yours right now rather than assuming.
During that window, here is the reality.
Your buyer may cancel for any reason whatsoever. They do not need to find a defect. They do not have to prove anything. They do not have to show you a report. They can decide they do not like the neighbour’s dog. The cancellation has to be in writing and delivered to you before the period expires, and a phone call or a vague email does not count.
If they cancel properly and in time, the deposit goes back to them.
If they do not deliver written termination in time, they are treated as having accepted the property. That is the flip side, and it is a real protection for you.
Under the AS IS form you have no obligation to make repairs. None. This is genuinely different from the standard FR/BAR contract, which requires certain repairs up to set limits. You do still have to keep the property in the condition it was in on the effective date, ordinary wear and tear excepted, and you have to make it available for inspections.
So when a repair request arrives, understand what it actually is. It is not a demand you are obliged to meet. It is your buyer saying “do something about this or I am going to use my cancellation right.” You are negotiating from a stronger legal position than you feel like you are in.
There is a Florida case called Diaz v. Kosch that every agent should know and most do not. The buyers paid the additional deposit that came due near the end of the inspection period, purporting to reserve their rights, and then terminated after the period had already run. The court held they had waived the right to cancel, and the sellers kept the deposits. The lesson cuts both ways. If you are the buyer and you need more time, get a signed written extension before the deadline rather than paying the second deposit and hoping. If you are the seller, know that the calendar is doing work for you, and that a buyer who lets the window close has accepted the house.
03As Is Does Not Mean You Can Stay Quiet
This is the most dangerous misunderstanding in Florida residential real estate, and I hear it from sellers constantly. “It is an as is contract, so I do not have to tell them anything.”
That is wrong, and it is the kind of wrong that turns a price negotiation into a lawsuit two years after closing.
Under Johnson v. Davis, a Florida seller must disclose known facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable to the buyer. An as is clause shifts who pays for repairs. It does not excuse you from telling the truth about what you know.
Read that definition carefully, because the three conditions all have to be met. It has to be something you know, it has to materially affect value, and it has to be something the buyer cannot readily observe. A peeling fence everyone can see is not in that category. A slab leak you had patched in 2019 and never mentioned very much is.
And there is a list of separate required disclosures that sits alongside that duty.
| Disclosure | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Flood disclosure, section 689.302 | A separate written disclosure delivered at or before the time the contract is signed, covering flood claims and federal assistance history |
| Radon gas notice | The standard statutory notice required in Florida residential transactions |
| Property tax disclosure | Warning the buyer that their tax bill may differ substantially from the seller’s current bill |
| Lead based paint | Federal requirement for homes built before 1978 |
| HOA or condominium disclosures | Association documents, assessments and governance information |
| Johnson v. Davis duty | Known material defects not readily observable. No form for this one. It is a duty |
That property tax line is worth pausing on, because it catches people in Florida more than anywhere else. Your buyer’s tax bill will very likely be substantially higher than yours, because your Save Our Homes assessment cap does not transfer to them. Buyers who are not warned about that sometimes discover it during the inspection period and walk, and it has nothing to do with the inspector at all.
04The Florida Way Deals Die That Nobody Writes About
Here is the one I most want sellers to understand, because you can pass the home inspection with flying colours and still lose the deal for a reason you never saw coming.
In Florida there are effectively two inspections on most transactions and they serve completely different masters.
The home inspection is for the buyer. It tells them about condition and it generates the repair request.
The four point inspection and the wind mitigation inspection are for the insurance carrier. The four point looks at roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC. The wind mitigation report documents roof covering, roof deck attachment, roof to wall connections, opening protection and the shape of the roof, and it drives both insurability and the credits on the premium.
Now follow the chain, because this is how it actually plays out.
Your buyer’s home inspection comes back fine. They go to bind insurance. The carrier looks at the four point and the roof age and declines, or quotes a premium so high it breaks the buyer’s debt to income ratio. No insurance means no mortgage, because no lender will close without coverage in place. The financing contingency fails and the deal dies.
And you, the seller, are left thinking the inspection killed it, when the inspector had almost nothing to do with it.
The biggest single factor
Roof age
Carriers in this state make decisions on roof age in a way they do not elsewhere. Florida Statutes section 627.7011 limits refusal based solely on roof age where a roof is under 15 years, and for a roof 15 or older an inspection showing five or more years of useful life closes the same door. If the stated reason is roof age alone, that statute is worth raising.
get the inspection, not the argument
Quiet dealbreakers
Panels, polybutylene and old water heaters
Certain electrical panels, polybutylene supply piping, aluminium branch wiring, and a water heater past its service life all show up on four points and all cause carriers to decline or surcharge. None of them feel urgent to a homeowner who has never had a problem.
cheap to fix, expensive to ignore
Worth money to your buyer
A current wind mitigation report
Wind mitigation credits can meaningfully reduce a Florida premium. Having a current report in hand, especially on a newer roof with proper attachment and opening protection, makes your house measurably cheaper to insure and therefore easier to finance.
a selling tool, not just paperwork
Ask this early
“Have you got a quote yet?”
The single most useful question a seller can ask during the inspection period. If your buyer has not sought an insurance quote by day five, that is a risk sitting in your transaction that nobody is managing. Push your agent to ask.
day five, every time
If your own policy has already been non renewed or you are carrying something you know a buyer will struggle to replace, that is worth understanding before you list rather than during the inspection period. I have set out the whole insurance chain, including the roof statute and what happens when coverage lapses, in your insurance got cancelled and your mortgage payment jumped.
05It Is Almost Never The Big Thing
Back to the forty seven item list, because this is the bit I learned from doing it the other way round.
When I buy a flip I have it inspected immediately, before anything is touched. Not because I plan to renegotiate, but because I want the complete list of everything wrong with that house while I still have the budget and the trades on site to deal with it. Then I have it inspected again when the work is finished.
What that process taught me is that buyers do not run from one big problem. They run from accumulation.
A twelve thousand dollar roof is a negotiation. Everybody can see it, everybody can price it, and you split it or credit it and move on. Deals survive roofs all the time.
What ends deals is page after page of small items, because somewhere around item twenty the buyer stops reading a list of repairs and starts reading a story about a house that has not been looked after. And once that story is in their head, every further item confirms it. The handrail is not about the handrail.
So the most valuable thing you can do, if you have any time at all before listing, is deal with the cheap stuff. GFCI outlets. Smoke alarms. Missing outlet covers. A running toilet. A sticking door. Caulking. Dryer vent. Visible plumbing drips. A handrail. None of it costs much and all of it comes off the list that creates the story.
And if you are already under contract with the list in front of you, the same logic applies in reverse. Fix the ten small things that are cheap and fast. They shorten the list dramatically, they cost you very little, and a short list reads completely differently from a long one even when the big items on it are identical.
06The Repair Request Just Landed. Now What.
Read the whole report, not the request
Your buyer’s agent has summarised forty seven items into a demand. Go and read the actual report, because inspectors routinely flag things as “monitor” or “recommend further evaluation” that get translated into “replace” on the way to you. Know what the inspector actually said.
Separate the list into three piles
Safety and system failures. Cheap cosmetic items. And things that are simply the age of the house. Deal with pile two immediately because it is cheap, argue about pile one on the merits, and politely decline pile three. A thirty year old house having thirty year old features is not a defect.
Price the genuine items yourself
Get your own quote from your own contractor on anything substantial. Buyers’ estimates in repair requests are frequently high, sometimes dramatically. A written quote in your hand changes the shape of the conversation faster than any argument will.
Offer a credit rather than repairs
A closing cost credit is faster, cleaner and ends the matter. You are not managing trades under a deadline, there is no argument about whether the work was done properly, and there is no reinspection to fail. Check with your buyer’s lender first, since credits have limits depending on the loan type.
Decide what you will actually do, and hold
Under the AS IS form you owe no repairs. If their request is unreasonable, a calm counter with your own quotes attached is a perfectly strong play. Plenty of buyers who open with a big number are testing, and a reasonable counter closes the gap.
Fix the real things before you relist
The next buyer’s inspector will find the same items, and now you know about them, which means they are disclosable. A failed deal is unpleasant and it is also free information about exactly what the next one will say.
07Should You Inspect Before You List?
I do it on every flip and I am still going to give you an honest answer rather than a sales pitch, because the right answer genuinely depends on your circumstances.
The case for it. You find out what is wrong while you still have time, leverage and a choice of contractors, instead of under a fifteen day clock with a nervous buyer. You can fix the cheap items before anybody writes them on a list. You can price the house accurately. And you walk into the negotiation knowing exactly what the buyer’s inspector is going to find, which is a very comfortable place to stand.
The case against it, which nobody tells you. Once you know about a material defect, you know about it. That is not a figure of speech. Your Johnson v. Davis duty attaches to what you know, so a pre-listing inspection that uncovers a serious problem creates a disclosure obligation you did not have the day before. You cannot un-know it and you cannot decline to mention it.
So the honest version is this.
If you intend to fix what is found, or to disclose and price accordingly, a pre-listing inspection is one of the best few hundred dollars you will spend. That is my situation on a flip. I am renovating anyway, so knowing everything early is pure upside.
If you are hoping not to find anything because you cannot afford to fix it and you do not want to have to disclose it, do not order one, and speak to a Florida real estate attorney about where you stand. That is not me being cynical. It is a real decision with real consequences and you should make it deliberately rather than stumble into it.
08When The House Will Not Pass And You Know It
Sometimes a seller already knows how this ends. The roof is nineteen years old, the panel is one of the ones carriers do not like, there is polybutylene in the walls, and there is no money to address any of it. Listing that house on the open market means attracting financed buyers, failing the insurance step, and watching it happen two or three times while the listing goes stale.
If that is your situation, you have three honest routes and I will describe all of them.
Fix the cheapest blockers and list anyway. Sometimes the whole problem is two items. A panel swap and a water heater can turn an uninsurable house into an insurable one for a fraction of what people assume. Get a four point inspection yourself and find out what is actually stopping a carrier, rather than guessing.
List it, priced for condition, and market to cash. A good agent can position a house for buyers who are not dependent on a carrier saying yes. You will net less than a renovated comparable and more than you fear.
Sell it as is, for cash. This is what I do, and the reason it exists is precisely this situation. No repairs, no repair request, no reinspection, no financing contingency and no insurance step to fail, because a cash buyer is not asking a carrier for permission. You pick the closing date. I have set out how it works and what you trade away in selling a house as is for cash in Florida.
And I will say the same thing I always say. If a few thousand dollars of targeted repairs would get you a traditional sale at a meaningfully better number, do that instead and do not call me. I would rather tell you that than take a deal you did not need to do.
What people believe
It is an as is contract, so I do not have to disclose anything.
What is true
As is shifts who pays for repairs. Under Johnson v. Davis you still must disclose known material defects a buyer cannot readily observe.
What people believe
The buyer sent a repair demand, so I have to do the repairs or lose the deal.
What is true
Under the AS IS form you owe no repairs at all. It is a negotiation, and your own quotes are the strongest thing you can bring to it.
What people believe
The home inspection went well, so we are through the risky part.
What is true
In Florida the four point and wind mitigation come next. No insurance means no mortgage, and that step kills deals the inspector passed.
I had a flip where the post renovation inspection came back with eleven items. Eleven. After a full renovation.
Four of them were genuinely mine to fix and I was annoyed about them. The other seven were things like a missing outlet cover and a loose cabinet handle, and they cost me about ninety dollars and an afternoon.
That house went under contract on its first weekend and the buyer’s inspection found almost nothing, because I had already seen the list.
That is the entire argument for inspecting twice. Not because it makes the house better. Because it means nobody hands you a forty seven page document three days before your contingency expires.
Realtors, this part is for you
Two things that would cut your fall through rate in this market. Ask the buyer’s agent on day five whether their client has an insurance quote in hand, because the insurance step is where Florida deals die quietly and nobody is monitoring it until it is too late. And on any listing over about fifteen years old, get a four point and a wind mitigation report in the file before you go live, so you find out what a carrier will say while you still have options. If you have a listing that has been sitting, that has failed inspection twice, or where the sellers are running out of road, send it to me. I will tell you honestly whether it should be repaired and relisted or sold as is, and if it is the first one I will say so and hand it straight back to you.
Send me the inspection report and tell me what they asked for. I will tell you what I would counter with, and whether this house wants repairing or selling as is.
Questions People Ask Me
How often do home sales fall through after the inspection?
Nationally about 14 percent of agreements that went under contract fell through in July 2026, the highest share in nearly three years, which is where the familiar one in seven figure comes from. Florida runs worse. Jacksonville sat at 17.3 percent, Tampa at 18.0 and Orlando at 18.2, with Orlando ranking fourth highest among metros analysed. So in this market closer to one in six is the honest local number.
Why do so many Florida deals fall apart compared with other states?
Three reasons and only one is about house condition. Insurance, because a carrier declining to write a roof kills the financing and no other state has this to the same degree. Inventory, because resale supply has rebuilt and builders are offering large incentive packages, so a buyer who feels crowded has little reason to accept a repair list. And buyer caution, because people are paying more than they expected in a state where insurance and taxes have both moved against them.
How long is the inspection period in a Florida contract?
Under the FAR/BAR AS IS form it defaults to 15 days after the effective date if the blank is left empty, but whatever number appears in your signed contract is what controls. Go and read your own contract rather than assuming. During that period the buyer may inspect with any inspector they choose, including general inspectors, wood destroying organism inspectors and roofers.
Can my buyer cancel for any reason?
During the inspection period, yes. Under the AS IS form no reason is required and the buyer does not have to prove a defect or even show you a report. The cancellation must be in writing and delivered to the seller before the period expires, and a phone call or a vague email will not do it. If no written termination is delivered in time, the buyer is treated as having accepted the property.
Do I have to make the repairs they are asking for?
Under the FAR/BAR AS IS form, no. The seller has no obligation to make repairs the inspection reveals, which is a real difference from the standard FR/BAR contract that requires certain repairs up to set limits. You must still keep the property in the condition it was in on the effective date apart from ordinary wear and tear, and make it available for inspections. A repair request is a negotiation, not a demand you are bound by.
Should I offer repairs or a credit?
A credit is usually better for both sides. It is faster, you are not managing contractors against a closing deadline, there is no argument about whether the work was done to standard, and there is no reinspection to fail. Check with the buyer’s lender first, because closing cost credits have limits that vary by loan type and an agreed credit that exceeds them will have to be restructured.
Does an as is contract mean I do not have to disclose problems?
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in Florida residential real estate. Under Johnson v. Davis a seller must disclose known facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable to the buyer. An as is clause shifts who pays for repairs; it does not excuse you from telling the truth about what you know. The separate statutory disclosures also still apply.
What disclosures are required in Florida regardless of the as is wording?
A separate written flood disclosure under section 689.302, delivered at or before the time the contract is signed. The radon gas notice. The property tax disclosure, warning the buyer their bill may differ substantially from yours. The federal lead based paint disclosure for homes built before 1978. HOA or condominium disclosures where applicable. And the general Johnson v. Davis duty, which has no form because it is a duty rather than a document.
What is a four point inspection and why does it matter?
It is an insurance inspection looking at four systems: roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC. It is not for your buyer, it is for their carrier. A property can pass a home inspection comfortably and still fail here, and if a carrier will not write the policy the buyer cannot get a mortgage, because no lender closes without coverage in place. In Florida this is one of the most common ways a deal dies, and most sellers never realise that is what happened.
My buyer says they cannot get insurance. Is the deal dead?
Not necessarily, but move fast. Find out the specific reason the carrier declined. If it is roof age alone, Florida Statutes section 627.7011 limits refusal based solely on roof age where the roof is under 15 years, and for a roof 15 or older an inspection showing five or more years of useful life closes the same door. If it is a panel type, polybutylene piping, aluminium branch wiring or an aged water heater, those are sometimes fixable for far less than people expect. Have the buyer shop through an independent agent who writes with several Florida carriers rather than one.
Should I get an inspection before I list my house?
It depends on what you will do with the answer, and I will give you the honest version. If you intend to fix what is found, or to disclose it and price accordingly, it is one of the best few hundred dollars you can spend, because you find problems while you still have time and leverage instead of under a fifteen day clock. But once you know about a material defect you cannot un-know it, and your disclosure duty attaches to what you know. If you cannot afford to fix what might turn up, speak to a Florida real estate attorney before you order one.
The buyer walked. What should I do before relisting?
Fix the genuine items, especially the cheap ones, because the next buyer’s inspector will find exactly the same list. Treat the failed deal as free information about what every subsequent inspection will say. And remember that you now know about anything that report revealed, so those items are disclosable going forward whether or not you repair them.
Is a long inspection report a bad sign?
Usually it means a thorough inspector rather than a failing house. Modern reports are photo heavy and flag everything including minor and cosmetic items, and forty or fifty entries on an older home is entirely ordinary. Read the actual report rather than the summarised demand, because items an inspector marked “monitor” or “recommend further evaluation” often arrive at the seller translated into “replace”.
What small things should I fix before listing?
The cheap ones that create the impression of neglect. GFCI outlets, smoke alarms, missing outlet covers, a running toilet, sticking doors, caulking, the dryer vent, visible plumbing drips, loose handrails and cabinet hardware. None of it costs much and all of it shortens the list. Buyers rarely run from one large problem they can price; they run from accumulation, because somewhere around item twenty the list stops being repairs and starts being a story about a house nobody looked after.
My house will not pass and I cannot afford repairs. What are my options?
Three. Get your own four point inspection and find out what is actually blocking a carrier, because sometimes it is two items and a panel swap and a water heater fix it for far less than you fear. Or list it priced for condition and market it toward buyers who are not dependent on a carrier approving the risk. Or sell as is for cash, where there is no repair request, no reinspection, no financing contingency and no insurance step to fail. If targeted repairs would get you a traditional sale at a meaningfully better number, do that instead.
Keep reading
A gentle note: I am a Florida Realtor with Momentum Realty and a home buyer, not an attorney, a licensed home inspector or an insurance agent, and this is general information rather than advice about your contract or your property. Contract forms, deadlines and disclosure obligations are strict and fact specific, and the version of the contract you signed controls regardless of what any general description says. Figures cited here reflect publicly available information as of October 2026, including Redfin’s July 2026 contract cancellation data and Florida Statutes sections 689.302 and 627.7011. Please have a licensed Florida real estate attorney review your specific contract, and confirm insurance questions with a licensed Florida insurance agent.
Written by Kady Andreoli, founder of Helping Hand Home Solutions FL and a Realtor with Momentum Realty. Helping Florida homeowners explore every available option, from stopping foreclosure to selling on their own terms. Guidance without judgment, and people before profit. 904-400-2131 · kady@helpinghandhomesfl.com