Utah Real Estate Due Diligence Explained

• Physical condition, structure, roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, and appliances
• Square footage, acreage, boundaries, surveys, easements, and access
• Title exceptions, CC&Rs, HOA rules, budgets, minutes, fees, and assessments
• Insurance availability and cost
• Flood, geological, environmental, drainage, radon, and other site concerns
• Zoning, permitted use, code violations, rental restrictions, and planned development
• Water source, water rights or shares, sewer or septic systems
• Utility costs and municipal or special-district charges
• Lease agreements, property management agreements, and tenant deposits for rental property
• Any issue personally material to the buyer

The due-diligence condition is powerful only when used on time. If the buyer does not cancel or resolve objections in writing by the deadline, the buyer is generally deemed to have waived the condition, and earnest money may become nonrefundable except under other surviving conditions.

Buyers should create a calendar immediately after acceptance and work backward from the deadline.

An inspection does not automatically obligate the seller to repair anything. The buyer may accept the property, cancel when permitted, or propose a written resolution such as repairs, a credit, a price adjustment, or a changed closing condition. The seller may agree, refuse, or counter.

Inspectors, title officers, lenders, insurance agents, surveyors, engineers, municipalities, and HOA managers provide information within their specialties. The buyer must decide whether the complete risk is acceptable. An agent can coordinate and help identify questions, but should not pretend to be an engineer, attorney, tax professional, or insurance underwriter.

• Order inspections immediately.
• Review seller disclosures before the inspector arrives.
• Obtain insurance quotes early.
• Review title and HOA materials, not just the inspection report.
• Investigate city plans, zoning, and permits when relevant.
• Get specialist evaluations for material concerns.
• Put cancellations or resolutions in writing before the deadline.

Due diligence is the buyer's opportunity to discover what ownership will actually involve. Treating it as a single two-hour inspection is careless. The strongest buyers investigate the property, the legal rights, the costs, and the surrounding conditions before their cancellation right expires.

• Which deadline controls this issue?
• What must be delivered in writing?
• What money is at risk if the transaction is canceled?
• Does an addendum change the standard form?
• Is this a real-estate question, or does it require legal, tax, lending, inspection, or engineering advice?