It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s buyers or sellers, first-time homeowners or seasoned investors. When it comes to the Residential Resale Purchase Contract, we tend to get the same questions over and over.
So I thought I’d share some of the more common questions here. My intent is to have a “Weekly Contract Question” but I have to be admit that it’ll probably wind up just like my “Pic of the Week” idea did. That being instead of appearing weekly, it winds up being every 2 days to 2 months, depending on the direction the wind is blowing…
Here is this “weeks” question:
Question: How long does the Arizona Residential Resale contract allow for an inspection period?
Answer: The “boilerplate” language (see below) in the standard Arizona Residential Resale contract allows for a 10 day inspection period. (FYI, Commercial transactions typically have a 30 day “due diligence period”) However, there is an area in the boilerplate language where a longer or shorter inspection period can be written into the contract.
As with any other contract provision, the terms must be agreed to by all the parties involved. So if a buyer requests a 15 day inspection period, the seller has the right to decline the offer, accept it with the 15 day inspection period, or counter the offer with changed provisions.
Likewise, just because the boilerplate language has a 10 day inspection period, that doesn’t mean that any party is required to accept that boilerplate language.
Actual AZ Residential Resale Purchase Contract verbiage: (click image to enlarge)
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In that part of the contract, it says the buyer has to investigate if there were suicides, homidices, etc in the home.
Doesn’t the seller have to tell any buyer about those kinds of things?
Razr –
What sellers are required to disclose varies from state to state. In Arizona, there is NOT a requirement for sellers to disclose deaths, including suicides and homicides, crimes, etc. The exception being if a home was used as a meth lab. And that’s not because of the crime, it because the nasty chemicals used in meth labs create a public health hazard.
My understanding is that some states require sellers to disclose things like suicides and homicides.
There are ways to look these kinds of “distressors” up on-line, and if these kinds of things are of material interest to a buyer they should always be investigated during the inspection period. If discovered after the inspection period expires, there’s really nothing a buyer can do other than breach the contract and risk losing earnest money (or more).
When does the count start for the inspection period? Is day 1 the date the Agreement is signed? Or, is that day 0? So if you sign the contract at 9am on August 1, is the inspection period over on August 10 or August 11? And is it midnight of that day?
Schneider – Great question! The response turned into it’s own post. You can find it here:
http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/inspection-period-how-do-i-count-the-days/406
You have to answer the questions if you are asked, but you are not obligated to tell on your oown initiative. Hope I have cleared some things about your issue.
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Austin Home Inspection