# Buyer Asked for Repairs After the Inspection in Florida: What Can a Seller Do? > When a buyer sends a repair request after the inspection, a Florida seller can repair, give a credit, cut the price, or decline. What you are required to do depends on which contract form you signed. - URL: https://maxliferealty.com/blog/buyer-asked-for-repairs-after-inspection-florida - Author: Ryan Solberg, Florida real estate broker (BK3354351), MaxLife Realty - Published: 2026-11-12 - Category: Seller Guides ## Key Takeaways - Under the FR/BAR AS IS contract the seller has no duty to make repairs. The buyer's remedy is to cancel inside the inspection period. - Under the FR/BAR Standard contract the seller must make repairs to warranted items up to a repair limit written in the contract, and either side may cancel if costs run over. - You have four answers: do the repairs, give a credit at closing, reduce the price, or decline. Each has a different effect on your net and on your risk of losing the buyer. - Insurance-driven requests (roof age, wind mitigation, 4-point items) are often not negotiable in practice, because the buyer cannot close without a policy. - Check the inspection deadline in your contract before you respond. Once it passes, a buyer on an AS IS contract generally cannot cancel over inspection results. **A buyer who asks for repairs after the inspection is making a request, and a Florida seller can answer in four ways: repair, credit, price reduction, or decline.** Whether you are required to do anything depends on the contract form you signed, so look there first. ## Do I have to make repairs after the buyer's inspection? It depends on which Florida contract you are under. **FR/BAR AS IS contract.** The seller agrees to make no repairs. The buyer's protection is the inspection period: inside it, the buyer can cancel for any reason and get the deposit back. A repair request in this setup is a negotiation, not a right. You can say yes, counter, or say no. The buyer's alternative is to walk or to accept the house as it is. Our guide to the [Florida AS IS contract](https://maxliferealty.com/blog/florida-as-is-contract-explained) covers the form in more detail. **FR/BAR Standard contract.** The seller warrants that certain items work: major appliances, heating, cooling, electrical, plumbing and other listed systems, plus a watertight roof and structure. The buyer inspects, then gives written notice of items that are not in the condition warranted. The seller is obligated to make those repairs only up to a repair limit written into the contract. The form also provides for a second opinion and, in a dispute, a third inspector. If the cost is above the limit, either side can pay the excess, the buyer can choose which repairs to make within the limit and accept the rest as is, or either side may cancel. The form does not require a seller to fix cosmetic wear. I am not an attorney, and contract forms get revised, so confirm the paragraph numbers and dollar limits in the version you actually signed. ## What are my four options? **1. Make the repairs.** Best when the item is small, clear, and cheap to fix, or when the buyer's lender or insurer requires it. Use a licensed contractor, get paid receipts, and keep them. Buyers trust documented work. The risk is a repair that fails a re-inspection, or one that takes so long it threatens the closing date. **2. Give a credit at closing.** The buyer takes the item as it is and your proceeds are reduced by the credit. This is usually the cleanest fix because you do not manage a contractor. Confirm with the buyer's lender how much seller credit the loan allows. **3. Reduce the price.** Similar economics to a credit, but it can affect the appraisal and the buyer's loan amount, and it changes the contract price permanently. A credit is often easier for everyone. **4. Decline.** Reasonable when the request is cosmetic, vague, or inflated, and you have other interest in the home. The cost is that an AS IS buyer inside the inspection period can cancel, and you may have to put the house back on the market. Anything the inspection found is something you will need to disclose to the next buyer. See [Florida seller disclosure requirements](https://maxliferealty.com/blog/florida-seller-disclosure-requirements). ## How do I decide what to agree to? Do arithmetic before you react. A [net sheet](https://maxliferealty.com/seller-net-sheet-calculator) shows what the sale puts in your pocket today. Then compare: - The cost of the request, using a contractor estimate rather than the buyer's guess. - The cost of losing this buyer: carrying costs while the house is relisted, plus the chance the next offer is lower. - The effect on the closing date. A few practical rules I use: - **Separate the safety and insurability items from the wish list.** A failing electrical panel or an active roof leak is a different conversation from scuffed baseboards. - **Ask for the specific inspection pages and an estimate** instead of the full report and a demand to fix everything. Buyers who send a focused list usually get a focused response. - **Counter with a number.** "Credit of a stated amount, items accepted as is" gives the buyer something to say yes to. - **Answer in writing, inside the deadline.** The inspection period is a hard clock under the contract. ## What about wind mitigation, 4-point and roof-age requests? These usually come from the buyer's insurance company, not from the buyer's preferences. If the buyer cannot bind a policy, they usually cannot close. A **wind mitigation inspection** documents roof shape, roof-to-wall connections, opening protection and similar features. Florida law (Fla. Stat. 627.711) sets a uniform mitigation verification inspection form that insurers must use for wind discounts, and it lists who may sign one, including licensed home inspectors with the required hurricane mitigation training, licensed contractors and engineers. It is mostly an information item that can lower the buyer's premium, not a repair. See [who can do a wind mitigation inspection](https://maxliferealty.com/blog/florida-wind-mitigation-inspection-who-can-do-it). A **4-point inspection** (roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC) is an insurer's underwriting tool. If the report flags an item the insurer will not accept, such as an older roof or certain electrical or plumbing components, the buyer may be told to fix it or find another carrier. I do not know of a single statewide rule for what every insurer accepts, because carriers set their own underwriting standards. Ask the buyer's insurance agent for the exact requirement in writing. When insurance is the issue, the negotiation is simple: the item is fixed, or a credit is big enough to cover it, or the buyer finds a carrier that will write the policy, or the deal ends. ## Do repairs need permits? If the work would need a permit for any homeowner, it needs one for a sale. Roof replacements, panel changes, water heater and HVAC changes, and plumbing re-pipes generally do. Your licensed contractor normally pulls the permit. Ask your local building department when unsure. Do not do unpermitted work to satisfy a request quickly. It can come back as an insurance or appraisal problem, and the buyer's inspector may ask about permits. The Florida Realtors and FR/BAR forms also address open or unpermitted improvements with their own permit provisions and limits, so check whether yours does. ## What if the inspection found something I did not know about? Then you now know it, and that matters. Florida requires a seller to disclose known facts that materially affect the value of the property and are not readily observable. A buyer who cancels over a finding does not erase your knowledge of it, so the next buyer should hear about it too. Fixing the item, with permits and receipts when required, is often the cleanest way to deal with a serious finding, because it turns a disclosed problem into a documented repair. If you cannot afford the repair before closing, a credit lets the sale go forward and still lets the buyer deal with the item their way. ## How should I respond to a long repair list? 1. Read it with your agent. Sort items into safety or system failure, insurance-driven, maintenance, and cosmetic. 2. Get one or two contractor quotes on the real items. 3. Decide your walk-away number on a net sheet. 4. Send one written response: accept these, credit for these, decline these. 5. Keep the written record. You will need it for your disclosure. If you want a second set of eyes on a request you just received, [talk to Ryan](https://maxliferealty.com/contact). I will tell you which items are worth fighting over and which are not. If you are still planning to list, [what to fix before selling](https://maxliferealty.com/blog/what-to-fix-before-selling-home-florida) covers which repairs pay for themselves, and a [home value check](https://maxliferealty.com/home-value) shows where you stand. *Statements about FR/BAR forms reflect published form language and attorney commentary as of November 2026, are general information only, and are not legal advice.* ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do I have to make repairs after a buyer's inspection in Florida? It depends on the contract. Under the FR/BAR AS IS contract, no: the seller agrees to make no repairs, and the buyer's protection is the right to cancel within the inspection period. Under the FR/BAR Standard contract, the seller must repair warranted items (such as major appliances, mechanical systems and roof leaks) up to the repair limit written in the contract, and the buyer can respond if the estimate is higher. Read the paragraph on inspections and repairs in your signed contract, or ask your agent or attorney. ### Can the buyer cancel if I refuse to make repairs? On an AS IS contract, yes, if they do it in writing before the inspection period ends. The inspection period is the buyer's window to cancel for any reason and get the deposit back. After it ends, the buyer generally cannot cancel because of inspection results, although other contingencies in the contract (financing, for example) may still apply. ### Is a credit at closing better than doing the repairs? Often, for sellers who do not want to manage contractors. A credit means no scheduling, no permit risk, and no argument over workmanship. The tradeoff is that the credit comes straight off your proceeds and the buyer's lender may limit how much seller credit it allows, so confirm with the buyer's lender before you agree. ### Does the seller need permits for repairs made after an inspection? Work that needs a permit still needs one whether it is done for a sale or not. Roofing, electrical, plumbing and HVAC replacements generally do. Ask your local building department or your licensed contractor. Unpermitted work can create a new problem for the buyer's insurer, lender or appraiser, and it can show up in the next buyer's inspection. ### What if the buyer's insurance company requires a new roof or electrical work? Then the request is really a condition of closing. A buyer who cannot get homeowners insurance usually cannot close. You can repair, give a credit large enough to cover it, or accept that the buyer may cancel. Ask the buyer's insurance agent exactly what the insurer requires so you are negotiating on the real item. --- Source: "Buyer Asked for Repairs After the Inspection in Florida: What Can a Seller Do?" by Ryan Solberg, Florida real estate broker (BK3354351), MaxLife Realty, https://maxliferealty.com/blog/buyer-asked-for-repairs-after-inspection-florida (last updated 2026-11-12). Content may be quoted with attribution to MaxLife Realty.