Dear Forms Committee: I represent a homebuyer on an offer the seller has accepted. We agreed to the Licensed Professional Inspections section of OREF 001– Residential Real Estate Sale Agreement and are currently within the ten-business-day inspection period. Today is day nine. I delivered to the seller’s agent a Buyer’s Repair Addendum signed by the buyer several days ago and the seller has not yet responded. When I asked the seller’s agent about it, they said the seller may or may not agree; they haven’t decided yet. What should I do?

The Licensed Professional Inspection contingency contained in OREF 001– Residential Real Estate Sale Agreement specifies that the buyer and seller must complete all inspections and negotiations prior to 5:00 pm on the final day of the inspection period. Prior to this deadline, the buyer may provide the seller with OREF 064 – Notice of Buyer’s Unconditional Disapproval, thereby terminating the transaction if an agreement hasn’t already been reached on repairs. If there is no agreement on repairs and no notice of unconditional disapproval, the buyer is deemed to have accepted the property in its current condition.

In the situation you’ve described, the buyer has a couple of options.

1. They could have you prepare an addendum requesting an extension of the inspection period, thus allowing the seller additional time to consider the buyer’s request. The risk with this approach is that the extension addendum must be signed and agreed to by the seller prior to the end of the inspection period.
2. Another option is for the buyer to provide the seller with OREF 064 – Notice of Buyer’s Unconditional Disapproval and terminate the transaction. If the buyer would like to give the seller more time to consider their request, but they don’t want to get stuck buying the property as-is, the recommendation is to prepare both documents. Prepare an addendum requesting an extension of the inspection period and also OREF 064 – Notice of Buyer’s Unconditional Disapproval. By having both documents prepared and signed by your buyer in advance, you can deliver the request for the extension of the inspection period immediately and only deliver the OREF 064 – Notice of Buyer’s Unconditional Disapproval just prior to the deadline if the extension addendum signed by the seller has not yet been received.

All comments and responses from OREF or its staff, managers, and volunteers are non-legal opinions made for general purposes. Each Forms subscriber must rely solely upon their Principal broker or personal legal counsel for specific advice and instruction. You and your client should independently confirm that the Form(s) you use are legally suitable for the purposes intended and that they are current with respect to all laws and regulations.