What Can We Learn From Bennifer 2.0? Insights into Real Estate Contracts

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are making headlines by NOT purchasing their forever home. The married couple are rumored to be walking away from yet another contract.

The $64M mansion boasts:

• 8 bedrooms
• 14 bathrooms
• a 3,000-square-foot 2-bedroom guest house
• an 800-square-foot gym in Pacific Palisades, California.

Ben and Jen have allegedly backed out of several similar deals recently after getting into escrow, costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs and fees. My sources tell me this is the third property where they’ve entered into contract/escrow and then walked away.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding Florida’s As-Is Contract: In Florida, most agreements are based on the As-Is template, allowing sellers to avoid fixing issues discovered during inspections.
• Buyer’s Cancellation Rights: Buyers have the right to cancel the contract during the inspection period without breaching the agreement. However, canceling after this period may result in breach.
• Precautions Taken: Title companies typically delay ordering title searches until after the inspection period to avoid additional costs for buyers who might cancel.

So, what can we learn from this undecided couple?

We can learn about the Florida As-Is contract and when a buyer may cancel without breaching the agreement. In Florida, most agreements are drafted on the As-Is template where the Seller is not obligated to fix anything that shows up during the inspection. The Buyer, during the pre-defined inspection period, may cancel the contract without issue. The As-Is contract provides a default of 15 business days for the inspection period, but the parties can shorten or lengthen that period to make it make sense for their deal.

With that said, after the inspection period is over, should the buyer (without cause) decide they want to cancel the contract, they would be in breach of the agreement. For this reason, most title companies don’t order the title search, lien search or estoppel request until AFTER the inspection period is over. We’re attempting to avoid additional costs to the buyer should they decide to terminate the purchase. So, there you have it. We learn that when buying a house in Florida, you may change your mind, but not forever. We also learn that you don’t want to be Bennifer’s realtor, can you imagine the reputation these two have at open houses LOL