Final Walkthrough Disputes: Included Items and the Buyer's Last Leverage in a Florida Sale

Section 01Why this matters for a Canadian seller

The Florida final walkthrough has no clean Canadian equivalent. The table below maps the Florida FAR/BAR walkthrough provision against Canadian provincial practice, grouped by jurisdictional family.

A Canadian seller managing a Florida closing from Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Calgary, or Vancouver is rarely physically present for the walkthrough. The seller relies on the listing broker, the title company, and any property manager involved. Three structural risks follow.

First, the seller may have removed items in good faith, believing they were personal property, that the buyer believed were included. Second, the seller may have kept a property manager on site through the listing period and may not know what was moved out before the walkthrough. Third, the buyer's broker, sensing closing-day leverage, may surface walkthrough issues that should have been raised earlier in the inspection period.

Each of these is preventable with one editorial discipline at the contract stage: list every item that is conveying with the property by name, in section 1(d) of the FAR/BAR contract, and keep a dated photograph of each. The walkthrough stops being a fight when the contract is specific.

Section 02The FAR/BAR walkthrough provision: what the contract actually says

Verified fact (FAR/BAR walkthrough timing): The FAR/BAR Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase provides that the buyer may conduct a walkthrough either on the day prior to the Closing Date or on the Closing Date prior to the time of Closing. Source: Florida Realtors and Florida Bar joint contract forms.

Verified fact (purpose of the walkthrough): The walkthrough confirms that (a) the property is in the condition required by the contract, normal wear and tear excepted; (b) any agreed-upon repairs are completed; and (c) the personal property and fixtures listed in the contract remain on the premises. The walkthrough is not a renewal of the inspection period and is not a moment to introduce new condition objections beyond those tied to the contract.

Verified fact (seller's maintenance obligation): Both the Standard FAR/BAR and the AS IS FAR/BAR include a seller maintenance provision requiring the seller to maintain the property in the condition existing on the effective date, ordinary wear and tear excepted. This is what gives the buyer the right to claim damages if a pipe bursts between contract and closing and the seller did not address it.

Verified fact (FR/BAR section 1(d), included personal property): Section 1(d) of the FR/BAR contract is the line where additional personal property included in the sale is named. If the buyer wants the washer, dryer, refrigerator, pool table, garage refrigerator, generator, or any specific personal property item, that item must be written in section 1(d). Per Florida Realtors guidance: "The MLS listing isn't part of the contract." An item shown in the listing photos but not written into section 1(d) is not contractually included.

Section 03The four categories of walkthrough disputes

Category 1: Included items missing. The buyer expected the washer-dryer, the second refrigerator in the garage, or the wall-mounted television to be there. They are not. The dispositive question is what section 1(d) of the contract says. If the item is named there, the seller breached and owes either the item back or a credit. If the item is not named, the seller is not in breach, and the MLS listing alone does not change that.

Category 2: Condition has changed. A storm damaged the screen enclosure. A pipe burst. A ceiling stained from a roof leak. The seller's maintenance obligation under the FAR/BAR makes the seller responsible for these between contract and closing. The buyer can demand repair, credit, or postponement.

Category 3: Agreed repair not completed. During the inspection period, the parties agreed to a specific seller repair (replace the dishwasher, fix the pool pump, re-grout the master bath). At walkthrough, the work is not done or was done poorly. The buyer's remedy is typically a credit at closing equal to a documented repair estimate, or a holdback escrowed at closing pending completion.

Category 4: Personal property left behind. The opposite of Category 1. The seller left items the buyer did not want and that section 1(d) did not include: a damaged sofa, a workbench in the garage, leftover paint cans. In Florida, post-closing removal of unwanted personal property is the buyer's problem unless the contract specifies otherwise. Some buyers negotiate a "broom-clean" delivery clause.

Section 04How a Canadian seller stays out of trouble

Section 05Worked example: the disputed garage refrigerator

A Canadian seller in Quebec listed a Boca Raton condo. The MLS photo showed two refrigerators: the kitchen built-in, and a second refrigerator in the garage. The contract was the AS IS FAR/BAR. Section 1(d), the line for additional personal property, was left blank.

At the day-before walkthrough, the buyer noticed the garage refrigerator was gone. The buyer's broker emailed the listing broker that night demanding the seller credit USD 800 at closing for "the missing refrigerator that was advertised."

What does the contract say? The kitchen built-in refrigerator is a fixture and conveys by default. The garage refrigerator is personal property and does not convey unless named. Section 1(d) is blank, so the garage refrigerator was not contractually included. The MLS listing photo is marketing, not contract. Per Florida Realtors guidance, the buyer has no remedy.

What happens next operationally? The seller is not in breach. The buyer's credit demand is a negotiation lever, not a legal claim. The seller's options:

• Refuse the credit. Closing proceeds. The buyer accepts the property without the garage refrigerator.
• Offer a smaller credit (USD 100 to USD 200) as goodwill to keep the closing on schedule. Common practice when the seller does not want a closing-day fight.
• Refuse and let the buyer escalate. The buyer can threaten to refuse to close, but doing so over a non-contractual item exposes the buyer to the seller's right to retain the deposit as liquidated damages.

Opinion (editorial judgment): for a Canadian seller closing remotely with limited bandwidth for closing-day disputes, offering a small goodwill credit in this situation is a reasonable trade. The closing certainty is worth more than the disputed amount.

Section 06Common mistakes by Canadian sellers

1. Trusting the MLS listing as the contract. It is not. Only what is written in section 1(d) of the FAR/BAR controls.
2. Not photographing the property and contents on the contract effective date. Without dated photos, the seller has no defense if the buyer claims something was there at signing.
3. Removing personal property after the inspection period without a broker walk. A small item taken in good faith can become a closing-day dispute. Have the broker walk and photograph the property after any seller removal of personal property.
4. Skipping the conversation about included items at the offer stage. A 10-minute conversation between the listing broker and the buyer's broker before the FAR/BAR is signed prevents almost every walkthrough dispute.
5. Not authorizing the listing broker in writing to attend the walkthrough. If the seller is not in Florida, someone must be present from the seller side. The listing agreement should explicitly authorize this.
6. Treating the walkthrough as optional from the seller's side. It is the buyer's right under the contract. The seller's absence does not delay it. The seller should plan for it.
7. Conflating the inspection period and the walkthrough. The inspection period closed days or weeks earlier. New condition objections raised at walkthrough that are not tied to the contract's maintenance obligation or to agreed repairs are not actionable by the buyer.
8. Agreeing verbally to leave items "to be nice" without documenting. A verbal commitment after signing is hard to enforce in either direction. Reduce any post-signing addition to writing as an addendum.

Section 07Actionable checklist for the seller side

1. Before signing the FAR/BAR: walk every room with the buyer's broker (or the buyer) and agree on what is conveying. Every refrigerator, every TV mount, every shed, every piece of pool equipment.
2. Write the agreed list into section 1(d) of the FAR/BAR. Be specific by location ("garage refrigerator," "primary bedroom television wall mount").
3. Take a dated photographic inventory on the contract effective date. Save in cloud storage with timestamp visible.
4. Confirm in writing with the listing broker the seller's expected attendance or non-attendance at the walkthrough.
5. Schedule any personal-property removal at least 5 business days before the walkthrough, never the same day.
6. Confirm any agreed repair is done and have an invoice from a Florida-licensed contractor before walkthrough.
7. The morning of walkthrough: confirm utilities are on (the buyer needs to test plumbing, HVAC, appliances).
8. Have the broker present at the walkthrough, with authority to take photographs and notes.
9. After walkthrough: if the buyer raises any issue, get it in writing immediately, with the asserted contractual basis.
10. Decide credit-vs-fight position within hours, not days. Closing-day delays cost more than most disputes.

Section 08FAQ

Can the buyer refuse to close because of a walkthrough issue?

A buyer can refuse to close, but doing so without a contractual basis exposes the buyer to forfeiture of the deposit as liquidated damages under the FAR/BAR default clause. Strong walkthrough leverage exists when the issue ties to a specific contractual obligation: an included item that is missing, a documented seller maintenance failure, or a non-completed agreed repair.

What if the buyer skipped the walkthrough?

Walkthrough is the buyer's right, not the buyer's obligation. A buyer who skipped it has waived the right to raise walkthrough-stage objections. Closing proceeds on the contract terms.

Is "broom-clean" condition required?

Not by default. The FAR/BAR does not require broom-clean delivery unless specifically negotiated and added to the contract.

What is a holdback escrow?

A holdback is an amount of the seller's net proceeds that the title company keeps in escrow at closing pending a defined event (commonly, completion of a repair within 30 days). The amount, the trigger event, and the release mechanism must be documented in writing and signed by both parties at or before closing. The title company will not hold back funds without instructions from both sides.

Can the buyer require the property to be cleaned professionally before closing?

Only if the contract or an addendum specifies it. Some Canadian sellers volunteer a professional cleaning as a goodwill gesture, particularly for a remote closing where the alternative is a "the place is dirty" walkthrough complaint.

Does flood, hurricane, or other casualty between contract and closing change anything?

Yes. The FAR/BAR has a casualty provision (sometimes called the risk-of-loss clause) addressing damage occurring after the contract effective date. Depending on the version of the contract and the dollar amount of damage, the buyer may have the right to terminate, or the parties may negotiate. This article does not cover the casualty mechanics in depth; consult a Florida real estate attorney if a casualty event occurs between contract and closing.

Honest scope statement: This article covers the seller side of the walkthrough only. The buyer-side equivalent (what to look for, how to document) is in Chapter 01 · Real estate acquisition. Casualty events and the FAR/BAR risk-of-loss provision are out of scope for this guide and warrant a dedicated article.