Many real estate agents find themselves in this embarrassing situation. The buyer submits a repair addendum under Paragraph 9(c)(3) on day 3 of the “Due Diligence Period” asking for termite repairs. The seller agrees believing that this is the only repair that the buyer wants. The buyer then comes back three days later and asks for HVAC repairs. The seller is mad at the real estate agent and buyer wanting to know why they are still asking for repairs.
The simple answer is the “Due Diligence Period” does not end when requests are submitted but rather ends after ten business days. To avoid this situation, when a repair addendum is submitted the seller should either wait to respond after the Due Diligence Period expires and the seller’s five day response period begins or write in the seller’s response to the addendum that the inspection period is hereby concluded. If your seller chooses to wait I also recommend letting the buyer/buyer’s agent know that the seller will respond once the due diligence period expires so they do not think the seller is ignoring the request.
* The Contract referred to in this Item is the Central Carolina Realtors Association contract that is widely used in the Midlands of South Carolina.