Most sellers hear “as-is” and picture a clean exit: no repair list, no re-negotiation, no responsibility for the water heater that fails later. Half of that is right. Selling a house as-is in Florida does settle the repair question, but it does not touch the disclosure question, and those are two different things governed by two different bodies of law. Sellers who assume as-is means “buyer beware, I say nothing” are the ones who get a demand letter months after closing.
Here is what the as-is label actually does in a Florida transaction, and what it leaves untouched.
What “as-is” actually means on a Florida contract
The standard form most Florida agents use is the FAR/BAR “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase. The as-is version differs from the standard version in one main way: the seller has no contractual obligation to make repairs or spend money bringing the property to any condition.
That’s it. It is a repair-allocation term. The buyer takes the roof, the AC, the polybutylene supply lines, and the aging electrical panel in whatever state they’re in on closing day.
What the as-is contract does not do is remove the buyer’s inspection period. Under the standard form, the buyer still gets a defined window to inspect and can walk away and recover the deposit for any reason or no reason during that window. So “as-is” does not mean “no inspection” and it does not mean “no renegotiation.” A buyer who finds a failing roof early in that window can cancel, or come back and ask for a price reduction, and you can say no — at which point you are back on the market.
In a market where buyers have leverage, that second conversation happens a lot. Redfin reported in its August 2026 analysis that nearly half of buyers nationally received some form of seller concession, with concessions most common in Sun Belt buyer’s markets. An as-is contract doesn’t exempt you from that dynamic; it just means any concession is voluntary.
What as-is does not do: Florida’s common-law disclosure duty
This is the part that surprises people.
Florida is not a pure caveat emptor state for residential resales. In Johnson v. Davis, decided by the Florida Supreme Court in 1985, the court held that a seller of a home must disclose facts they know about that materially affect the value of the property and that are not readily observable to the buyer. That duty attaches to you personally as the seller. An as-is clause does not waive it, and courts have repeatedly declined to let an as-is clause paper over an affirmative misrepresentation or a concealed known defect.
Break it into its parts:
- Known. You are not required to inspect your own house or hunt for problems you’re unaware of. You are required to be honest about what you do know.
- Materially affects value. A sticky bedroom door is not it. Repeat flooding, an active roof leak, a sinkhole history, structural movement, chronic drainage failure, a septic system that backs up — those are.
- Not readily observable. A buyer can see a stained ceiling. A buyer cannot see that the stain came back after every repair.
The practical rule: as-is protects you from having to fix things. Disclosure protects you from having to litigate them. Write down what you know and hand it over.
The written disclosures Florida still requires
Separate from the common-law duty, Florida statutes and federal rules impose specific written disclosures that an as-is sale does not eliminate. Depending on the property, these can include:
- Flood history. Florida Statutes § 689.302, effective for contracts entered into on or after October 1, 2024, requires a seller of residential real property to give the buyer a flood disclosure at or before the time the contract is executed, covering known flood damage and any prior flood-related insurance or federal assistance claims.
- Radon gas. Florida Statutes § 404.056 requires the specified radon notice in residential sale and lease documents.
- Property tax notice. Florida Statutes § 689.261 requires the summary telling the buyer that property taxes may change after a sale and that they should not rely on the seller’s current tax amount.
- HOA and condominium disclosures. Florida Statutes § 720.401 requires the homeowners’ association disclosure summary before or at the time of contract; § 718.503 governs condominium disclosure and the buyer’s associated cancellation rights.
- Sinkhole claim history. Florida Statutes § 627.7073 addresses disclosure obligations tied to sinkhole reports and claims on the property.
- Coastal properties. Florida Statutes § 161.57 requires a coastal erosion control line disclosure for certain properties seaward of that line.
- Lead-based paint. Federal law still applies to housing built before 1978, regardless of as-is status.
The Florida residential seller’s disclosure form is not required by statute the way it is in some states, but most agents use one, and completing it carefully is usually your best evidence that you disclosed in good faith. Whether a particular fact about your property must be disclosed is a legal question about your specific situation — take it to a Florida real estate attorney rather than guessing. That conversation costs far less than the one that happens after a lawsuit is filed.
The Florida-specific friction points
Some issues come up in Florida as-is sales far more than elsewhere.
Open and unpermitted work. County and city building departments in Florida keep permit records that a title company or buyer’s agent will often pull. An old permit that was never closed out — a re-roof, a water heater swap, a pool cage — can stall a closing even on an as-is deal. Check your county’s permit portal before you list.
Roof age and insurability. A buyer using financing needs insurance, and Florida carriers look hard at roof condition and age through four-point and wind mitigation inspections. An as-is contract doesn’t make an uninsurable roof financeable. This is the single most common reason a Florida as-is listing goes under contract and then falls apart.
Financing sensitivity. Rates make the buyer pool thinner. Realtor.com Research reported that the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate climbed to 7.03% in late September 2026, the highest reading since January 2025. Costlier financing means fewer buyers can absorb a house that also needs a new roof and AC.
Listing as-is versus selling to a cash buyer
Both are legitimate, and they trade different things.
Listing as-is on the MLS reaches the most buyers and usually produces the highest gross price. The cost is time, showings, an inspection period you may not clear, and — as the Redfin data suggests — a real chance of concession requests that reduce your net anyway.
Selling directly to a cash buyer removes the financing and insurance contingencies, which is why it closes. The honest tradeoff is price: a cash as-is offer is generally below what a patient retail listing would fetch, because the buyer is absorbing the repair cost, the holding time, and the risk of what the inspection finds. If the house is clean and financeable, listing usually nets more. If the roof is well past its useful life, the AC is dead, and you need a date certain, the math can flip.
Caliber Trust has bought Florida houses directly, as-is, since 2016. What we do lays out how that works, and it works fine alongside a listing agent or your own attorney — having representation is not a conflict. More background is on our FAQ page, and if you want to talk through a specific property, reach out.
A short checklist before you sign anything
- Write down every known defect, past leak, past claim, and past repair — including the ones that came back.
- Pull your permit history from the county or city building department.
- Gather insurance claim records and any four-point or wind mitigation report you already have.
- Complete the seller’s disclosure form fully rather than minimally.
- Have a Florida attorney review anything unusual — title issues, probate, an heirs’ property situation, a disputed lien.
As-is is a useful tool. It sets expectations, narrows the repair fight, and lets an honest seller sell a tired house without pretending otherwise. It just isn’t a shield against telling the truth.