FAR/BAR AS IS Contract 2026: A Guide for Cash Buyers and Wholesalers

The 2026 Florida AS IS contract (ASIS-7x), paragraph by paragraph, for cash buyers and wholesalers sending offers on Florida MLS listings.

The FAR/BAR AS IS contract is the "AS IS" Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase, the form Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar publish together. The current version is ASIS-7x, which became available to agents on February 27, 2026. If you send cash offers on Florida MLS listings, this is the form most listing agents expect to see. For a wholesaler, three blanks on it matter more than anything else: the assignment box in paragraph 7, the deposit deadlines in paragraph 2, and the Inspection Period in paragraph 12.

This guide walks through the form the way I use it: mostly cash offers on listed properties, almost always with an inspection period and earnest money spelled out.

Why investors use the AS IS version

On the AS IS form the seller is not signing up to fix anything. Paragraph 12(c) says the seller is not required to spend money, and paragraph 10(j) limits the seller's statement to this: they know of no facts materially affecting the value that are not readily observable and have not been disclosed.

In exchange, the buyer gets a clean inspection right. You are not asking the seller for repairs. You are asking for time to look, and a way out if the numbers do not work. That trade is why it fits investors.

The 2026 version: what changed

Two updates since 2024 are worth knowing before you send your next Florida offer.

• Closing Services in paragraph 9(c). The form now defines "Closing Services" by reference to section 627.7711(1)(a), Florida Statutes, and says each party bears their own Closing Services fees, payable to the closing agent or another provider each party selects. Who pays for the owner's title policy is still set by which box is checked in 9(c): (i) the seller picks the closing agent and pays, (ii) the buyer picks and pays, or (iii) the Miami-Dade and Broward version.
• The FinCEN paragraph, 18.I.(iii). Florida Realtors updated it in February 2026 to line up with the federal residential real estate reporting rule, which started March 1, 2026. That rule covers certain non-financed transfers to an entity or trust, with the report filed by the title or closing side. If you buy cash in an LLC, expect your title company to ask for more information about the entity than it used to.

Check the footer before you send anything. It should read FloridaRealtors/FloridaBar-ASIS-7x. An offer on an old form tells the agent you are copying a PDF you found years ago.

Paragraph 7: assignment, the box that matters most

If you wholesale, read this paragraph twice. Paragraph 7 gives three choices:

• Buyer may assign and thereby be released from any further liability.
• Buyer may assign but not be released from liability.
• Buyer may not assign.

Then the form says, in capitals, that if no box is checked, the buyer may not assign. Leaving it blank is a choice, and it is the wrong one if you plan to assign.

Which box you check is a negotiation. "Assign but not be released" is often the easier ask, because the seller still has you on the hook if your end buyer walks. Whichever you pick, decide before you send. If you check "may not assign", your exit is a double close, and that changes your title and closing costs.

Paragraph 2: deposits and the 3 and 10 day clocks

The deposit lines are where an investor offer earns trust or loses it.

• Initial deposit, 2(a). Due within the number of days after the Effective Date you write in, and if you leave it blank, 3 days.
• Additional deposit, 2(b). Due within the days you write in, and if blank, 10 days after the Effective Date.
• Escrow agent. Named on the form. Use a title company you trust and that knows you.
• Balance, 2(e). Paid by wire transfer or other collected funds at closing.

The Effective Date, defined in paragraph 3(b), is the day the last party signs or initials and delivers the final offer or counter-offer. Every deadline on this form counts from it.

My own offers almost always carry an earnest money amount that matches the price and the listing. A $1,000 deposit on a $400,000 house tells the agent something about how serious you are.

Paragraph 12: the Inspection Period

This is the paragraph that makes the AS IS form work for a cash buyer. Paragraph 12(a) gives the buyer the number of days you write in, or 15 days after the Effective Date if left blank, to have any inspections the buyer wants. If the buyer decides, in the buyer's sole discretion, that the property is not acceptable, the buyer can terminate by written notice to the seller before the period ends, and the deposit comes back.

Two things investors get wrong:

1. Notice has to be in writing and on time. A phone call to the listing agent on day 14 is not a termination. Send the written notice and keep a copy.
2. Shorter is often stronger. A 15 day default is fine, but on a hot listing a 7 or 10 day period, with a real deposit, can beat a higher number with a long inspection window. Write the period you can actually work in.

Paragraph 12(b) also gives you a walk-through the day before closing or on closing day, before closing. Use it.

Paragraph 8: cash, and proof of funds

Paragraph 8(a) is one checkbox: a cash transaction with no financing contingency. Check it if you are buying cash.

The form has no proof of funds clause. Agents ask for it anyway, and most will not present a cash offer without it. Attach it to every offer you send. I covered what agents look for in proof of funds for MLS offers.

How the dates work: Standard F

Standard F in paragraph 18 says time is of the essence and that time periods are counted in calendar days, based on where the property is located. If a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or national legal holiday, it rolls to the next day that is not one. Counter-offers, under paragraph 3(a), must be accepted within 2 days after delivery unless the counter says otherwise.

Here is how a typical cash offer runs. The day counts in the third column are examples, because you negotiate them on the form.

Build this the day the contract is executed. Nobody else is going to remind you.

Paragraph 15: what a default costs

If the buyer fails to perform, paragraph 15(a) lets the seller keep the deposit as agreed liquidated damages, or go after enforcement under paragraph 16 instead. For a wholesaler, that is the real risk of an assignment that falls apart after the Inspection Period: your deposit is the cost. Do your end buyer work inside the window, not after it.

Wholesaling Florida listings: the license law

Texas has a statute written for wholesalers. As I read Florida's real estate license law, chapter 475, it has no section like that. What it has are broad definitions. A "broker" includes anyone who, for compensation, sells or offers real property "or any interest in or concerning the same", or advertises that they do. And "real property" in the same section includes any assignment.

In plain terms: market your contract position, not the house as if you own it, and have a Florida real estate attorney look at your assignment language and how you advertise. If you want the Texas side for comparison, it is in my guide to the TREC 20-19 one to four family contract. The rest of what goes in a complete package is in MLS wholesaling paperwork.

Where the time goes at volume

One Florida offer done carefully takes me 10 to 15 minutes. At 50 offers a month that is up to 12 hours of typing, and the 180+ days on market strategy only works when each offer costs almost nothing.

That part I automate with SendMLS, which fills the AS IS contract from the address and sends it from my own Gmail with open tracking. Which listings, what price and which box in paragraph 7 stay my call. If an agent goes quiet after that, here is what to do when a listing agent is not responding.

Checklist before you send a Florida AS IS offer

• Footer reads FloridaRealtors/FloridaBar-ASIS-7x.
• Paragraph 7 assignment box checked on purpose. Blank means no assignment.
• Deposit amounts and days filled in 2(a) and 2(b), escrow agent named.
• 8(a) checked for cash.
• Inspection Period days written in 12(a).
• Title box in 9(c) checked the way you intend.
• Owner, legal description and parcel checked against the county.
• Proof of funds attached.
• Offer expiration date filled in 3(a).

FAQ

What is the FAR/BAR AS IS contract?

It is the "AS IS" Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase published by Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar. The seller makes no repairs, and the buyer gets an Inspection Period to cancel in their sole discretion. The current version is ASIS-7x, released February 2026.

Can you assign the FAR/BAR AS IS contract?

Only if paragraph 7 allows it. The buyer can be allowed to assign and be released, allowed to assign without being released, or not allowed to assign. If no box is checked, the buyer may not assign.

How long is the inspection period on the Florida AS IS contract?

Whatever number of days you write in paragraph 12(a). If you leave it blank, it is 15 days after the Effective Date.

When is earnest money due on the FAR/BAR AS IS contract?

The initial deposit is due within the days written in paragraph 2(a), or 3 days after the Effective Date if blank. Any additional deposit is due within the days in 2(b), or 10 days if blank.

What changed in the 2026 FAR/BAR AS IS contract?

The February 2026 update revised the FinCEN paragraph, 18.I.(iii), to match the federal reporting rule for non-financed transfers to entities and trusts that started March 1, 2026. The current form also defines Closing Services in paragraph 9(c), with each party paying its own Closing Services fees.

Send your next ten Florida offers by lunch

If you send offers on Florida listings and the paperwork is the bottleneck, start a free trial of SendMLS. Map the AS IS contract once, fill it from an address, and spend your afternoon calling agents instead of retyping legal descriptions.

This is general information from a wholesaler, not legal advice. Read the current form yourself and talk to a Florida real estate attorney about your own deals.