What Is Florida's "AS IS" Real Estate Contract?

Updated August 2026 · Reviewed by Adams, Cameron & Co.

What Florida's AS IS contract actually is

The AS IS Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase is a standard form contract jointly developed and published by Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar, commonly referred to as the FAR/BAR AS IS contract. It's one of the most widely used residential contract forms in the state, used across a large share of Florida home sales, whether the property is a resale, a distressed sale, or a fairly ordinary transaction. The name refers specifically to the seller's repair obligation, or rather the lack of one: the seller is selling the property in its current condition and isn't agreeing, as part of signing the contract, to fix anything the buyer might find during inspection.

The misconception new agents have to correct constantly

Because the phrase "as is" gets used casually in everyday language to mean something closer to "no returns, no complaints, you take what you get," a lot of buyers hear "AS IS contract" and assume it means they can't inspect the home, or that they're locked into buying it no matter what an inspection turns up. That's simply not accurate, and it's one of the most common misconceptions a new agent will have to correct, sometimes repeatedly, with buyers who are hearing the term for the first time in a real estate context. The AS IS designation affects the seller's repair obligation. It does not remove or reduce the buyer's right to inspect, negotiate, or walk away.

How the inspection period actually works

Under the standard AS IS contract, the buyer gets a defined inspection period, a specific number of days counted from the contract's effective date, during which they can have the property professionally inspected, tested, and evaluated in whatever way they choose. The contract's default language commonly points to a period around 15 days, though the exact number of days is a negotiated field filled in on the contract itself, and different transactions and different local markets sometimes agree to a shorter or longer window. During that period, the buyer has real leverage: they can request that the seller make specific repairs or provide a credit, they can request a price adjustment, or they can simply terminate the contract and receive their deposit back in full. Florida Realtors materials describe this cancellation right as sitting in the buyer's sole discretion, meaning the buyer doesn't have to justify the decision or prove the property has a specific defect. If they decide during the inspection period that they don't want to move forward, for any reason, they can cancel and get their money back.

What happens after the buyer requests repairs

If the buyer finds issues during inspection and wants something addressed, the process is a negotiation, not an automatic entitlement. The buyer can ask the seller to make specific repairs, offer a credit toward closing costs, or reduce the purchase price. The seller can agree to all of it, some of it, or none of it, since nothing in the AS IS contract obligates the seller to say yes to a repair request. If the two sides can't reach an agreement they're both comfortable with, the buyer's protection is the ability to terminate during the inspection period and get the deposit back, rather than being forced into either accepting the property's condition as-is or losing their earnest money. That built-in exit is what makes the AS IS structure fair to both sides: the seller isn't obligated to fix anything, and the buyer isn't obligated to buy a property they've decided, after real inspection, they don't want.

Why AS IS has become the more commonly used standard contract

Florida also has an older standard contract, sometimes just called the Standard contract, that handles repairs differently: it builds in a specific dollar cap the seller is obligated to spend fixing issues that come up during inspection, along with defined categories like wood-destroying organism damage and other structural or system-related repair items. That structure sounds protective for buyers on paper, but in practice it creates more ambiguity about what exactly falls under the repair obligation, what happens once the dollar cap is reached, and how disputes over borderline repair items get resolved. The AS IS contract sidesteps a lot of that ambiguity by not promising any repair obligation in the first place, and instead giving the buyer a clean, unconditional right to walk away during the inspection period if the property's condition isn't acceptable. That clarity, for both agents and clients, is a big part of why AS IS has become the more commonly used of the two standard forms in Florida real estate today, even though the older Standard contract is still used in some transactions and by some agents who prefer its structure.

What a new agent needs to be able to explain clearly

A new agent doesn't need to have the entire contract memorized clause by clause, but does need to be able to explain a few things clearly and confidently to a nervous buyer or a seller worried about liability. To a buyer: AS IS doesn't mean no inspections, it means the seller isn't promising repairs upfront, and the buyer keeps real leverage and a real exit during the inspection period. To a seller: AS IS doesn't mean the buyer can't ask for anything, it means the seller isn't obligated to agree, but should expect negotiation requests after inspection and think through, in advance, what they're actually willing to fix or credit. Getting this explanation right, early in a transaction, prevents a lot of unnecessary anxiety and a lot of wasted time from a buyer or seller operating on a mistaken assumption about what the contract actually does.

What if the buyer doesn't terminate before the deadline?

The inspection period isn't open-ended, and this is a detail new agents need to drill into buyers early. If the buyer wants to cancel or negotiate based on what an inspection found, written notice generally has to be delivered before the inspection period actually expires, following whatever notice procedure the contract itself specifies. Miss that deadline without acting, and the right to cancel for inspection reasons and get the deposit back typically goes away, since the contract moves forward as written once the window closes. This is exactly why a competent agent tracks inspection deadlines as carefully as any other date in the transaction, and why a buyer should never treat the inspection period as something they can let quietly lapse while they're still deciding. An agent who sets a calendar reminder well before the deadline, rather than relying on the buyer to remember, is doing real, practical risk management, not just being organized for its own sake.

What is your next step?

Knowing the real mechanics of Florida's AS IS contract, not just the name, is exactly the kind of practical knowledge that separates an agent who can walk a nervous first-time buyer through a real transaction from one who's only memorized definitions for the exam. If you're still working toward your license, our step-by-step Florida real estate license guide walks through the course, the exam, and what comes after. If you're closer to deciding where you want to practice and get trained on Florida's actual contract forms, that's worth a real conversation.

Adams, Cameron & Co., the largest brokerage in Volusia and Flagler counties since 1963, trains new agents on the contracts they'll actually use with real clients, not just the concepts tested on the state exam. Start a conversation if you want to talk through what that training and mentorship actually looks like.

Contract terms, inspection period lengths, and available forms can change and are negotiated on a transaction-by-transaction basis. Review the current FAR/BAR contract language and consult a real estate attorney for guidance on a specific transaction. Educational only, not legal advice.