Many people would argue that the Tallahassee Board of REALTORS® Contract for Sale and Purchase is the best document of its type in use in the State of Florida. While many housing markets in Florida use a different contract for the purpose of selling real estate, ours if considered the cream of the crop (at least by us Tallahasseans!).
When looking at the contract used to buy and sell real estate in Tallahassee, one paragraph in particular demonstrates the effectiveness of the form versus all other rivals, and that is the paragraph dedicated to Wood Destroying Organisms (formerly called the “Termite” paragraph).
Sometimes we find that home buyers and home sellers are a little confused about how Wood Destroying Organisms (WDO) are handled when found in a home inspection, so I thought I would write about that and create a handy resource for as long as we continue to use the language in this real estate sales contract.
Two areas of the Tallahassee Board of REALTORS® Contract for Sale and Purchase reference Wood Destroying Organisms, and both need to utilized. The first is paragraph 5, and the next is paragraph 11.
Who Pays For Wood Destroying Organisms Inspection
Paragraph 5 (pictured below) shows who pays for the WDO inspection and how treatments will be handled. Note, this is very important:
Line 59. is used to identify the cost limitation of the inspection. This commits the seller to have the inspection performed, but only to the extent that meets the amount specified in the cost of the inspection. But line 60 is the culprit in most problems that stem from Wood Destroying Organisms.
Both home buyers and home sellers alike need to understand the importance of the contract paragraph pictured above. Each box should be “x’d” like you see, and the blank that I have circled should be left blank! Any amount put in that blank circumvents the super-effectiveness of Clause #11 (discussed below).
Often times, ignorant real estate sales people advise/allow the home seller to “limit their exposure” to wood destroying organism by placing a dollar amount in that blank. This is stupid! Let paragraph 11. handle this.
The home seller needs to understand that any buyer buying the home will expect the home to be clean and free of all infestation, so limiting this amount will rarely, if ever, actually save the seller any money. But I have seen it cause many a home seller to lose the buyer for their home.
Wood Destroying Organisms Inspection
The meat of this issue is handled in paragraph 11. of the Tallahassee Board of REALTORS® Contract for Sale and Purchase. The contract does an excellent job of defining roles and controls, and ultimately saves many a real estate contract from going void.
The first part of the Wood Destroying Organisms paragraph identifies what will be inspected, stating:
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