Clauses specific to a Canadian buyer: what to add to your Florida purchase offer

What clauses should a Canadian buyer add to a standard Florida purchase offer?

The standard FAR/BAR "AS IS" Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase, the form used in roughly every residential resale in Florida, is written for a buyer who lives in the United States, holds a Social Security Number, banks in US dollars, and can drive to the closing table. A Canadian buyer matches none of those assumptions. The default deadlines (5 days to apply for financing, 15 days for inspection, 30 days for loan approval, time-of-the-essence throughout) are short relative to a cross-border wire, a foreign-national mortgage, and a flight from Montréal. This guide lists the clauses a Canadian buyer should add or modify on top of the FAR/BAR baseline so that the contract reflects the actual cross-border timeline, the actual currency exposure, the actual signing logistics, and the actual Florida-side risks (insurance availability, condo SIRS funding, wire fraud) that the printed form does not anticipate.

This guide is a clause-builder, not a substitute for a Florida-licensed attorney drafting your offer. Every clause below should be reviewed by counsel before it is inserted in a binding contract.

Section 01. What this guide covers, in 30 seconds

In short. The FAR/BAR AS IS Contract is the form. The default time periods printed on the form are calibrated for a US-resident buyer. A Canadian buyer should expect to add or amend at least eight specific clauses: a wire and currency clause, an adapted financing or cash-timing clause, an extended inspection clause, an insurance availability clause, condo-specific clauses if the property is a condominium, a title-holding flexibility clause, a power-of-attorney clause for remote signing, and a wire-fraud protection clause. None of these clauses are exotic. They are simply the clauses that line up the printed form with the actual logistics of a cross-border purchase.

This guide does not cover the FAR/BAR contract section by section (see the dedicated guide on the FAR/BAR contract line by line), nor the choice between personal name, LLC, or trust (see the dedicated guides on holding structure), nor how to qualify for a foreign-national loan (see the dedicated guides on financing). It assumes those decisions are either made or in progress, and it focuses narrowly on the contract clauses that translate those decisions into a binding offer.

Verified fact. The standard FAR/BAR AS IS Contract uses calendar days, not business days, and the form opens with a "time is of the essence" clause. A buyer who misses a contract deadline by one calendar day generally loses the right tied to that deadline, including in some scenarios the right to cancel without forfeiting the deposit. Sources: Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar, Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase ("AS IS"), current form; Florida Realtors, Analyzing the Financing Contingency series.

Section 02. Why a standard FAR/BAR offer falls short for a Canadian buyer

In short. The form's printed defaults reflect a US-resident profile. A Canadian buyer needs a margin on every deadline, a different financing path, a different signing logistic, and a different set of disclosures.

The FAR/BAR AS IS Contract is widely used precisely because it is comprehensive and standardized. That same comprehensiveness can mask the gap between what the form assumes and what a Canadian transaction actually involves. The printed form gives a buyer 5 calendar days from the Effective Date to apply for financing and 30 calendar days to obtain Loan Approval if those blanks are left empty. It gives a buyer 15 calendar days to inspect under the AS IS version if no other number is written in. It assumes the buyer can be physically present to sign the closing package. It assumes the buyer can wire funds from a US account on short notice. It assumes the buyer is dealing with a Florida lender on a conventional loan with US tax returns and a credit score from a US bureau.

A typical Canadian buyer faces a different reality on each of those points. The cross-border wire takes longer than a US ACH transfer and is exposed to a USD/CAD exchange rate that can move several percentage points between the offer and the closing. The mortgage path, when there is one, runs through a foreign-national loan program that requires more documentation and longer underwriting than a conventional loan. The travel constraint (often a single in-person trip) compresses the inspection window if the form's default 15 days falls during a week when the buyer cannot fly down. The signing constraint may require a Florida-recognized power of attorney executed in Canada under specific witnessing rules. None of these issues is solved by the printed form. They are solved by adding the right clauses on top of it.

Opinion. A Canadian buyer who lets the listing agent prepare the offer "as standard" and signs it without amendment is statistically more likely to negotiate from a weaker position when problems arise during the inspection period or before closing. The clauses below are not concessions extracted from the seller. They are the price of a contract that actually fits the transaction.

Section 03. Currency and wire transfer protection clauses

In short. A Canadian buyer pays in USD but funds the deal in CAD. Two distinct risks sit on the contract: the timing risk (how long the wire takes from a Canadian bank to a Florida escrow account) and the rate risk (how much the CAD-to-USD rate may move between Effective Date and closing). The contract does not address either by default. Both can be addressed with explicit clauses.

Wire timing

The AS IS Contract requires the EMD to be delivered within 3 days after the Effective Date if a contract block is not modified. That window assumes a US-to-US transfer. A wire from a Canadian bank, depending on the bank, the cut-off time, and any compliance review, typically clears in 1 to 3 business days, but the full sequence (initiating the wire from Canada, the receiving bank verifying, the title or escrow agent confirming receipt) can run longer when a weekend or a bank holiday is in the path. The same constraint applies, on a much larger scale, to the closing wire.

A practical clause modifies the EMD delivery window to 5 to 7 business days after the Effective Date and explicitly states that wire-transfer delays not caused by the Buyer are not deemed a Buyer default. A second clause requires the closing agent to provide wire instructions in writing at least 5 business days before closing and to confirm those instructions verbally over a known phone number before the Buyer initiates the wire.

Currency exposure

The contract itself is written in USD and the deposit, the closing wire, and any seller credits are denominated in USD. Nothing in the form says how the Buyer must source those USD. A Canadian buyer who has not pre-converted CAD to USD is exposed to the exchange rate from the day the offer is signed to the day each wire is sent. On a USD 600,000 purchase, a 1 % move in CAD/USD between Effective Date and closing is the equivalent of roughly CAD 8,000 to 9,000 depending on the prevailing rate. A 3 % move is the equivalent of roughly CAD 24,000 to 27,000.

The contract cannot eliminate this risk. It can, however, contain a clause that gives the Buyer the right to fund either through a single wire denominated in USD or through a sequence of wires from a designated US-based currency-conversion account, and that confirms the Buyer is responsible for sourcing and converting the funds in time. This protects the Buyer from any seller objection if the funds arrive in two staged transfers from a currency broker rather than one transfer from a domestic US bank.

Typical range. Cross-border CAD-to-USD wires from a Canadian bank to a US escrow account typically clear in 1 to 3 business days when initiated before the bank's same-day cutoff. Foreign-exchange brokers that hold US-side accounts (sometimes used by Canadian buyers to lock in a rate ahead of closing) can shorten the final wire to a same-day or next-day USD transfer, but the CAD-to-USD conversion timing depends on when the buyer locks the rate. Confirm timing with your specific Canadian bank or FX provider before stating wire deadlines in the contract. Source: standard cross-border wire timing observed at major Canadian banks.

Section 04. Adapted financing or cash-purchase timing clause

In short. If the Canadian buyer is financing through a foreign-national loan, the form's default deadlines (5 days to apply, 30 days to obtain Loan Approval) are unrealistic. If the buyer is paying cash, the form's clauses on financing become irrelevant but the closing wire still needs more time than a US-to-US wire.

If the buyer is financing

The AS IS Contract Section 8 lets the buyer either waive the financing contingency or include one. With a contingency, the buyer must apply within a stated number of days (5 if blank) and obtain Loan Approval within a stated number of days (30 if blank). For a Canadian buyer using a foreign-national loan, both numbers are too short. Foreign-national underwriting requires translated tax returns, foreign credit references, source-of-funds verification under FATCA-equivalent rules, and a property-specific appraisal that includes condo project review. The realistic application window is 7 to 10 days after Effective Date; the realistic Loan Approval window is 45 to 60 days. The closing date itself should be set 60 to 75 days from Effective Date, not the 30 to 45 days customary on conventional financing. These should be written explicitly into Sections 3 and 8 of the contract, not left to the printed defaults.

A second adjustment is to the loan amount and rate ceiling. Foreign-national loans typically require a larger down payment (often 25 % to 35 % of the purchase price) and carry an interest rate that is higher than a comparable conventional loan for a US resident. The contract should state the loan amount and the rate ceiling at levels the buyer is confident the actual lender will deliver, rather than aspirational numbers that risk the contingency falling through.

If the buyer is paying cash

A cash purchase is mechanically simpler, but the wire window still matters. The contract should reflect a closing date set far enough in the future to accommodate the CAD-to-USD conversion and the international wire (typically 30 to 45 days from Effective Date is comfortable for a cash deal). The contract should also include a clause requiring the closing agent to issue the Closing Disclosure or settlement statement at least 3 to 5 business days before closing so the buyer has time to confirm the wire amount before initiating the transfer.

Verified fact. If left blank, the FAR/BAR AS IS Contract defaults to 5 calendar days for the buyer to apply for financing and 30 calendar days for Loan Approval, both measured from the Effective Date. These numbers are the printed defaults, not recommended targets, and the form expressly states they should be filled in rather than left blank. Source: Florida Realtors, Analyzing the Financing Contingency series; Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar, Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase ("AS IS"), Section 8.

Section 05. Extended inspection clause

In short. The default 15-day inspection period is workable for a local buyer who books the inspection on day 2 and walks the property on day 5. It is tight for a Canadian buyer who has to fly down, schedule a four-point inspection, a wind mitigation inspection, a general home inspection, and (for older condos) a review of the building's milestone inspection report and SIRS, all in the same window.

A practical clause sets the inspection period to 20 to 25 calendar days for a single-family home and 25 to 30 calendar days for a condominium. The wider window matters for two reasons specific to Florida: insurability depends on the four-point and wind-mitigation reports, and condo financial health depends on documents that the association is allowed up to 10 business days to deliver. If the inspection window closes before the SIRS or the milestone report has been received, the buyer is in the position of either waiving the contingency without the documents or canceling without knowing whether the documents would have changed the decision.

Beyond extending the period, a Canadian buyer's clause should explicitly enumerate the inspections to be performed: general home inspection, four-point inspection, wind-mitigation inspection, WDO (wood-destroying organism) inspection, mold or moisture inspection if relevant, and pool or seawall inspection if relevant. Enumeration is not a legal requirement; it is a practical one, because it sets the seller's expectation that all of these inspections are part of the buyer's due diligence rather than after-the-fact additions.

Typical range. For a Florida resale single-family home, expect a general home inspection, a four-point inspection, and a wind-mitigation inspection to total roughly USD 600 to USD 1,200 in inspection fees in 2026, depending on size and location. For a condominium, the financial inspection of the association (estoppel, recent budgets, milestone status, SIRS status) is typically performed by the buyer's attorney or a specialized condo-review service for an additional USD 250 to USD 750. Confirm with your inspectors and your attorney for your specific property. Source: prevailing inspector and attorney pricing in South Florida, observed range.

Section 06. Insurance availability clause

In short. A property insurance policy is, in practice, a precondition to closing. The Florida insurance market has been volatile since 2022, with non-renewals concentrated in older single-family homes and in coastal condominiums. The contract should give the buyer a right to cancel if no acceptable policy can be obtained within a reasonable window.

The AS IS Contract does not have a built-in insurance contingency. It does have property condition and risk-of-loss provisions, but neither protects a buyer who, after the inspection period, discovers that no admitted carrier will write the property at a premium that is reasonable, or that coverage is only available through Citizens Property Insurance (the state-run insurer of last resort) at a premium that materially changes the carrying cost.

A practical clause gives the buyer 10 to 15 calendar days from the Effective Date to obtain at least one binding quote from an admitted carrier for the property at terms acceptable to the buyer. If no such quote is obtained within that window, the buyer may cancel and recover the EMD. The clause can specify the maximum acceptable annual premium as a fraction of the purchase price (for example, a ceiling of 1.5 % to 2 % of the purchase price for a coastal condo) so that "acceptable" is not left to interpretation.

Verified fact. As of 2025, Florida had the highest property insurance non-renewal rate in the United States, and Citizens Property Insurance Corporation reported approximately 772,000 policies in force as of September 2025, after a peak above 1.4 million in 2023. Florida property insurance reforms enacted in 2022 and 2023 have stabilized the market, but premiums remain materially above the national average and policy availability varies significantly by county and by building age. Sources: U.S. Senate Budget Committee, December 2024 report on insurance non-renewals; Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, public policy-count reporting; Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, public market data.

Section 07. Condo-specific clauses

In short. If the property is a condominium or cooperative, four documents drive the financial picture: the estoppel certificate, the most recent association budget and reserves disclosure, the milestone inspection report (for buildings three habitable stories or higher), and the structural integrity reserve study (SIRS). The contract must give the buyer time to review these and a right to cancel if they reveal problems.

Florida statutory backdrop

Senate Bill 4-D (2022), Senate Bill 154 (2023), House Bill 1021 (2024), and House Bill 913 (2025) reshaped the financial regime for Florida condominiums. Buildings three or more habitable stories tall must complete a milestone inspection at age 30 (age 25 for some coastal locations under specific local rules), repeated every 10 years thereafter. The same buildings must complete a SIRS by December 31, 2025, then every 10 years. Starting with budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners can no longer waive or reduce reserves for the structural items identified in the SIRS (roof, primary structural systems, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, exterior windows and doors, and any item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost above USD 25,000 that affects those structural items).

The practical implication for a Canadian buyer is that the financial profile of a condominium is no longer summarized by the current monthly fee. It is summarized by the current monthly fee plus the reserve trajectory established by the SIRS plus any pending or anticipated special assessment to fund the gap between past underfunded reserves and current statutory requirements.

Clauses to add

A practical clause requires the seller to deliver the estoppel certificate, the current budget, the most recent SIRS or, if not yet completed, the association's documented plan to complete it, and the milestone inspection report or, if not yet completed, the timeline for completion, within 10 business days after the Effective Date. The clause then gives the buyer 7 to 10 calendar days from receipt of the last of these documents to review and to cancel for any reason if the documents reveal a special assessment, a funding shortfall, a pending phase-two milestone inspection, or a reserve trajectory the buyer is not willing to assume.

A separate clause should address rental restrictions. Many Florida condominiums restrict short-term rentals (some require minimum 30-day, 90-day, or even 6-month tenancies), and some require board approval for any tenant. For a snowbird buyer who wants to rent the unit during the months they are not in Florida, those restrictions are decisive. The clause requires the seller to deliver the recorded rental rules (typically in the declaration and the rules and regulations) and gives the buyer a right to cancel if the rules are inconsistent with the rental plan disclosed in the offer.

Verified fact. Florida Statute § 553.899 establishes the milestone inspection requirement for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or higher. Florida Statute § 718.112(2)(g) establishes the SIRS requirement and the prohibition on waiving structural reserves for affected buildings effective for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024. The current statutory framework reflects amendments through House Bill 913 (2025). Sources: Florida Statutes § 553.899; Florida Statutes § 718.112(2)(g); Florida DBPR, Condominium FAQs.

Section 08. Title-holding flexibility clause

In short. A Canadian buyer's choice of holding structure (personal name, US LLC, cross-border trust, Canadian corporation) often is not finalized at the Effective Date. The contract should preserve the right to take title in a different name than the buyer named in the offer, provided the substitute is a wholly owned vehicle of the named buyer.

The AS IS Contract names the buyer on page 1, and that name flows through to the deed at closing. A buyer who names themselves personally in the offer and later decides to close in an LLC has to amend the contract or assign it. A standard "and/or assigns" clause is a partial solution but is sometimes refused by sellers (particularly seller-attorneys who associate "assigns" language with wholesale flippers).

A clean clause states that the buyer reserves the right, at any time before closing, to designate a wholly owned LLC, a wholly owned Canadian or US trust, or a wholly owned corporation as the title-taking entity, provided that the named individual buyer remains the primary signatory of the contract and remains personally liable under the contract until closing. This formulation typically satisfies seller-side counsel because it does not contemplate a substitute buyer with different financial substance; it contemplates only a substitute legal vehicle owned by the same person.

Opinion. Most Canadian buyers should make the holding-structure decision before signing the offer, not after. The clause above exists for the case where the decision is genuinely in progress at offer time, not as a default. The reason is that the financing path, the insurance path, and the closing-cost computation all depend on the holding structure, and reopening any of those midstream is harder than choosing well at the start.

Section 09. Power of attorney clause for remote closing

In short. Florida law allows a power of attorney to sign closing documents on behalf of an absent buyer, but the POA must satisfy Florida execution rules to be accepted by the title company and recorded with the deed. A Canadian buyer who cannot be in Florida on the closing date should plan the POA at the offer stage, not the week before closing.

Florida Statute § 709.2105 requires a power of attorney to be signed by the principal, signed by two subscribing witnesses, and acknowledged before a notary public. Florida Statute § 709.2106 recognizes a POA executed in another state or country if it was valid under the law of the place of execution at the time it was signed. In practice, this means a POA executed in Quebec or another Canadian province can be used in a Florida closing, but the title company is permitted to request an opinion of counsel on its validity, and a POA that omits one of the three Florida elements (principal's signature, two witnesses, notary acknowledgment) is more likely to be rejected even if it complies with provincial law.

A practical clause in the contract reserves the buyer's right to sign all closing documents through a Florida-recognized attorney-in-fact, requires the seller to cooperate with the use of a POA and to accept the deed and closing package signed by the attorney-in-fact, and acknowledges that the buyer will deliver the recorded original POA (or a certified copy) to the title company before closing. This avoids a last-minute objection by the seller to remote signing and preserves the buyer's flexibility if travel becomes impossible.

Verified fact. Under Florida Statute § 709.2105, a power of attorney must be signed by the principal and by two subscribing witnesses, and must be acknowledged by the principal before a notary public. Under Florida Statute § 709.2106(3), a power of attorney executed in another state or country is valid in Florida if its execution complied with the law of the place of execution at the time of signing. A third party (such as a title company) may request an opinion of counsel on a POA presented to it. Sources: Florida Statutes § 709.2105; Florida Statutes § 709.2106; Florida Statutes § 709.2119.

Section 10. Comparison Canada (Quebec reference) ↔ Florida

A Canadian buyer arriving from Quebec is used to a different mechanism. The promesse d'achat is a notarial-tradition document, the deed is signed before a notaire, and the financing condition is typically tighter (often 7 to 10 days). Comparable mechanisms exist in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta with provincial variations. The table below uses Quebec as the reference province; equivalent comparisons for Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta are being published.

The deeper structural difference is that the FAR/BAR contract is a self-executing instrument: it sets every deadline by reference to the Effective Date, and every deadline missed is a deadline lost. The Quebec promesse d'achat is the entry door to a notarial process where the notaire is the gatekeeper of the deed and absorbs many small frictions. The FAR/BAR contract assumes the parties manage the timeline themselves. For a Canadian buyer, that assumption is the primary reason the clauses in this guide exist.

Section 11. Worked example: a Canadian buyer's clause package

Assume a buyer from Montréal, paying in cash, purchasing a USD 600,000 condominium in Hollywood, Florida, in a 12-story building constructed in 1986. The unit is for personal snowbird use 4 to 5 months a year and short-term rentals (90-day minimum) the rest of the time. The buyer plans to take title in their personal name and will not be present in Florida at closing.

A clause package layered on top of the FAR/BAR AS IS Contract typically includes:

1. EMD timing. EMD of USD 18,000 (3 % of purchase price) due by wire within 7 business days after Effective Date, with explicit acknowledgment that wire-transfer delays not caused by the Buyer are not deemed a Buyer default.
2. Currency and wire. Buyer reserves the right to fund through one or more wires from a US-based currency-conversion account; closing agent to provide written wire instructions at least 5 business days before closing and to confirm them by phone.
3. Cash-purchase timing. Closing date set at 45 calendar days from Effective Date.
4. Inspection. Inspection period set at 25 calendar days, enumerating general home inspection, four-point inspection, wind-mitigation inspection, mold inspection, and condo financial review.
5. Insurance availability. 15 calendar days from Effective Date to obtain at least one binding quote from an admitted carrier at an annual premium not exceeding 2 % of the purchase price (USD 12,000); right to cancel and recover EMD if no such quote is obtained.
6. Condo documents. Seller to deliver estoppel, current budget, most recent SIRS or completion plan, most recent milestone inspection report or completion plan, declaration, and rules and regulations within 10 business days after Effective Date; Buyer has 10 calendar days from receipt of the last document to cancel for any reason.
7. Rental restrictions. Seller to confirm in writing that no association rule prohibits 90-day minimum rentals; right to cancel if rules require longer minimum tenancies or board approval that has not been pre-cleared.
8. Title-holding flexibility. Buyer reserves the right to designate a wholly owned LLC or trust as title-taking entity at any time before closing, provided the named Buyer remains personally liable under the contract.
9. Power of attorney. Buyer reserves the right to sign all closing documents through a Florida-recognized attorney-in-fact; Seller to cooperate; recorded original POA or certified copy to be delivered to the title company before closing.
10. Wire-fraud protection. Buyer's wire instructions for the closing wire to be confirmed verbally over a phone number known to the Buyer (not a number contained in an email) before any wire is initiated; closing agent to acknowledge the same protocol on its side.

This package extends the contract by approximately 3 to 5 pages of additional text and is negotiated alongside the offer price. A seller's counter-offer may shorten some of the windows but rarely refuses the package outright when the buyer's offer is otherwise competitive.

Typical range. A Canadian buyer's clause package typically extends the standard FAR/BAR AS IS Contract by 3 to 5 additional pages of riders and additional terms. Drafting and review by a Florida-licensed real estate attorney typically costs USD 750 to USD 2,500 depending on complexity and the level of negotiation required. Source: prevailing real estate attorney pricing in South Florida, observed range.

Section 12. Common mistakes

1. Leaving the financing blanks at default. The 5-day application window and 30-day Loan Approval window are not adequate for foreign-national underwriting and should never be left blank when financing is in play.
2. Treating the EMD as same-day money. A Canadian wire is not a US ACH. Build the wire window into the contract explicitly.
3. Skipping the insurance contingency. A property that cannot be insured at a reasonable premium is a property that cannot be financed and is harder to resell. Confirm insurability before the inspection window closes.
4. Reading the SIRS as a formality. A SIRS that recommends USD 8 million in reserve funding over 10 years for a 60-unit building means roughly USD 13,300 per unit per year of reserve contribution, which becomes a monthly fee impact even if no special assessment is announced.
5. Assuming a Canadian POA will be accepted without scrutiny. Florida title companies routinely require an opinion of counsel or insist on a Florida-form POA. Plan the document at offer time, not the week of closing.
6. Confusing FIRPTA with the buyer's role. FIRPTA is a seller-side withholding triggered by the buyer (or the closing agent) at closing when the seller is foreign. As the buyer, the Canadian is on the withholding side of the form, not the withheld side. The buyer signs an affidavit confirming the seller's status (or the closing agent does). FIRPTA exposure for the Canadian buyer arises later, when the property is sold.
7. Wiring closing funds based on emailed instructions. Real estate wire-fraud schemes typically intercept the closing-disclosure email and substitute fraudulent wire instructions. Always confirm wire instructions verbally on a phone number obtained outside the email chain.
8. Believing "AS IS" means no negotiation. AS IS refers to the seller's duty to repair, not to the buyer's right to negotiate. Inspection-period negotiations on price, credits, or repair allowances are common under AS IS contracts.

Checklist: building a Canadian-buyer offer

1. Confirm the property type (single-family, condo, coop) and the year of construction.
2. Confirm the financing path (cash, foreign-national loan, or full conventional with US co-borrower).
3. Set the Effective Date target and work backward to set realistic financing, inspection, insurance, and closing windows.
4. Draft the EMD wire-timing clause.
5. Draft the financing or cash-timing clause matched to the actual lender or fund-source timing.
6. Draft the extended inspection clause enumerating each inspection.
7. Draft the insurance availability clause with an explicit premium ceiling.
8. If condominium or cooperative, draft the condo-document delivery and review clause and the rental-restriction clause.
9. Draft the title-holding flexibility clause if the structure is not yet final.
10. Draft the power-of-attorney clause and start the POA execution in Canada in parallel.
11. Draft the wire-fraud protection clause for the closing wire.
12. Have a Florida-licensed real estate attorney review the full package before submission.

FAQ

Can I use the Florida Realtors Foreign Buyer Addendum instead of writing custom clauses? There is no single industry-standard "foreign buyer addendum" published by Florida Realtors that covers all of the items above. Florida Realtors publishes specific riders (condo, HOA, financing, lead paint, FIRPTA buyer's affidavit, and others) but the Canadian-specific package is typically built as a combination of those riders plus custom additional terms drafted by the buyer's attorney.

Do these clauses require a Florida-licensed attorney or can my Realtor draft them? A Florida Realtor® can fill in the standard form. Drafting custom clauses, particularly clauses that modify the time-of-the-essence framework or address title-holding flexibility, falls into the practice of law and should be handled by a Florida-licensed real estate attorney. Many Canadian buyers retain an attorney for the entire transaction at a cost typically lower than equivalent legal fees in Quebec.

Will a strong clause package weaken my offer? In a balanced market, a clause package that adjusts deadlines and adds an insurance contingency is rarely a deal-breaker. In a highly competitive market with multiple offers, some sellers will pick a cleaner offer at the same price. The trade-off is real but manageable: the clauses that are non-negotiable for a Canadian buyer (wire timing, POA, condo-document review) can be defended; the clauses that are buyer-favorable but optional (premium ceiling, expanded inspection list) can be relaxed.

What if I am buying preconstruction? Preconstruction purchases use the developer's contract, not the FAR/BAR AS IS Contract. The clauses in this guide are not directly transferable to a preconstruction deal, although the underlying themes (currency, signing logistics, holding structure, ITIN where applicable) still apply. See the dedicated guide on preconstruction.

Do I need an ITIN before signing the offer? No. An ITIN is needed when a US tax filing obligation arises, typically when the property is rented and US-source rental income is reported, or when the property is later sold and FIRPTA reporting requires a taxpayer identification number. A Canadian buyer who is not yet renting and not yet selling does not need an ITIN at the offer or closing stage. If the property is to be rented, plan the W-7 application 9 to 11 weeks before the first rental tax filing is due, since IRS processing for foreign-filed W-7s typically runs in that range.

What about wire fraud insurance? Some closing agents and some title insurance underwriters offer optional wire-fraud insurance at low cost. It is not a substitute for the verbal-confirmation protocol but it is a sensible second layer for a buyer wiring six- or seven-figure sums from another country.