The inspection period is the window after the effective date in which the buyer investigates the property and can cancel. Under the standard residential AS IS contract it runs fifteen days when the blank is left empty, and during it the buyer may walk for any reason, or no reason, by delivering written notice before it expires.
- It is the buyer's cheapest option in the whole transaction, and it expires. Everything discovered after it is a negotiation, not a right.
- Negotiate its length against the work it has to hold. Insurance quotes and municipal searches run on other people's schedules.
- Cancelling requires written notice delivered before it expires. Deciding in time and telling someone in time are two different acts.
- Order the survey, the searches and the insurance quote on day one. The period does not pause because a vendor is slow.
Related terms
All termsEffective Date
The effective date is the day a contract becomes binding: when the last party signs or initials the final offer and that signed contract is delivered back.
ClosingEscrow Deposit
The escrow deposit is the buyer's money, held by a neutral third party, that shows the offer is real.
DevelopmentBoundary Survey
A boundary survey is a licensed surveyor's determination of where a parcel's lines actually run on the ground, built from the recorded description and from monuments found and set.
Terms arrive with the writing.
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