9 BINSR Mistakes Arizona Buyers and Sellers Make
What happens if the buyer does not submit a BINSR in Arizona? The buyer gives up the right to ask the seller for those repairs under that process, and the sale moves on toward closing.
The BINSR is an Arizona REALTORS form, and every clock around it is short. Most of the trouble on an Arizona resale comes from nine avoidable mistakes.
The nine mistakes, in short:
- No BINSR means no repair request
- Ten days from contract acceptance
- Certification and financial assurance required
- Lender requirement, not a state law
- Safety and systems, not cosmetics
- Five days from delivery
- As is does not cancel disclosure
- Two forms, two separate clocks
- Five days, and it does not reopen
1. What happens if the buyer does not submit a BINSR?
The BINSR is the Arizona REALTORS form a buyer uses to list inspection items they disapprove. A buyer who never delivers one gives up the right to ask the seller for those repairs under that process. Silence is not a negotiating position. It reads as taking the property in the condition the inspection found.
A strong answer is a delivery record: the date the BINSR went out, how it was sent, and the time stamp. Ask to see the confirmation rather than being told it was sent. Sellers should ask the same question from their side.
An agent who says a text to the other agent counts is building an argument for later. Delivery is what the contract runs on, and a disputed delivery date moves every deadline that follows it.
2. How long is the inspection period in Arizona?
The buyer's inspection period under the Arizona REALTORS resale contract is ten days after contract acceptance unless the contract says otherwise. During that period the buyer may inspect, investigate and consult agencies, lenders and insurers. The period runs from acceptance, not from the day the inspector finally shows up.
A strong answer is a dated timeline written at acceptance: inspection day, the day reports land, and the day the BINSR must be delivered. In Scottsdale that timeline should also book the pool and roof looks in the same week as the general inspection.
Booking the general inspection on day seven is the habit that ruins the period. Reports come back, a specialist is needed, and there is no room left to ask the seller for anything.
3. Does an Arizona home inspector have to be licensed?
Arizona law requires a home inspector to hold certification from the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration and to file financial assurance before performing a fee based home inspection. A friend with a ladder and a flashlight is not that. A report from outside that system is harder to stand behind when the BINSR is written.
A strong answer names the inspector and their certification, and the report arrives as a dated document with a photograph of each item. Ask for the certification before booking rather than after the report lands.
An agent who sends every client to one inspector without being able to say why is worth a question. Not automatically a problem, but ask what the relationship is and whether other names are available.
4. Is a termite inspection required in Arizona?
No Arizona law requires a wood destroying insect inspection report for a sale. It is a lender requirement. Pest control applicators, inspectors and companies in Arizona must be licensed by the Arizona Department of Agriculture. The desert subterranean termite is the most common and most destructive termite in Arizona's urban areas. That is what makes a skipped report expensive.
A strong answer orders the report inside the inspection period even on a cash purchase, and reads the treatment history on the property. Ask whether the last treatment was a spot treatment or a full perimeter treatment, and who holds the warranty now.
Being told a Scottsdale home has no termite risk because it is newer is a reassurance, not a report. Ask for the report anyway, because the next buyer's inspector will order one.
5. What should actually go on a BINSR?
The BINSR lists the inspection items the buyer disapproves. Loading it with cosmetic items weakens the items that matter, because the seller reads one list and answers it as one list. A short list of safety, structural, water and system items is much harder to refuse than a long list that opens with paint and cabinet hinges.
A strong list names the item, the report page and what would resolve it. In Scottsdale that often includes the pool barrier, because the city requires a compliant safety barrier for every single family pool, spa or hot tub built after 20 July 1995, with no exemption for households without children.
An agent who says to list everything and let the seller cut it is planning to lose the items that matter. Sellers answer the shape of the list, and a long list invites a blanket no.
6. How long does the seller have to respond to a BINSR?
The seller responds to the BINSR within five days of delivery. A seller who lets that window run out is spending the only days available to negotiate a repair, a credit or a price change. The calendar keeps moving whether or not the seller has decided anything, and the buyer's options open up at the end of it.
A strong answer is a decision meeting on day one or two with written bids in hand, not a scramble on day five. Sellers should price the items they intend to fix before answering, so the response names a scope instead of a promise.
A response saying the items will be looked into is not a response. The window closes on the calendar, and a seller who treats it as a soft deadline hands the buyer the next move.
7. Does selling a house as is mean the seller can ignore the BINSR?
An as is clause does not relieve an Arizona seller of the duty to disclose known material defects. It shifts risk for defects the seller did not know about. Arizona case law is clear. A seller who knows facts that materially affect the home's value, that are not readily observable and not known to the buyer, has a duty to disclose them.
A strong answer separates two questions: what the seller will repair, and what the seller already knows. An as is listing in Scottsdale still gets a written answer to the BINSR, even when that answer is that no repairs will be made.
An agent who treats as is as a reason to send nothing back is mixing repair terms with disclosure duties. Those are different obligations, and only one of them is negotiable.
8. What is the difference between the BINSR and the seller disclosure form?
The Seller's Property Disclosure Statement is a separate form. Under the Arizona REALTORS resale contract the seller delivers a completed statement within three days of contract acceptance, and the buyer gives notice of disapproved items within the inspection period or five days after receiving it, whichever is later. The BINSR handles inspection findings instead.
A strong answer keeps two lists. What the inspector found goes on the BINSR. What the seller wrote down, or should have, gets its own notice on the disclosure timeline. Ask the agent which list an item belongs on before anything is delivered.
Rolling a disclosure objection into the BINSR because that deadline is closer is how a buyer loses both. The two notices run on different clocks and answer to different parts of the contract.
9. When can a buyer cancel after the seller answers the BINSR?
The buyer may cancel within five days after delivery of the seller's response, or within five days after the seller's response time expires, whichever comes first. That is the window. It does not reopen because a contractor is slow to quote. It does not wait for a lender to weigh in.
A strong answer puts both possible dates on the calendar the moment the BINSR is delivered: five days after a response, and five days after the response deadline. Ask the agent to write both down and say which one is running.
Waiting on a better repair bid past the cancellation date is the mistake that ends the choice. Once that window closes the buyer is holding a contract, not an option.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does BINSR mean in an Arizona contract?
BINSR is the Arizona REALTORS form a buyer uses to list inspection items they disapprove, and the form the seller answers on. It is written into the Arizona REALTORS resale contract rather than into state law, so the deadlines around it come from the contract the parties signed.
Where does the BINSR form come from?
The BINSR is a form of the Arizona Association of REALTORS, so it comes through the agents on the transaction rather than from a state agency. A buyer or seller without an agent should ask the escrow officer which forms the signed contract references and what each one is due.
Who pays for repairs listed on a BINSR?
Nothing in the process makes a repair automatic. The seller responds within five days of delivery and may agree to all, some or none of the items. What happens after that is negotiated, and the buyer's remaining choice is to move forward or to cancel inside the five day window.
Is the BINSR used outside Arizona?
The BINSR is an Arizona REALTORS form, so buyers moving from another state usually meet it here for the first time. Sold by Samantha is a real estate team in Scottsdale, Arizona, working Scottsdale Ranch, McCormick Ranch, Grayhawk, DC Ranch, Silverleaf, Windgate Ranch and greater Scottsdale. Out of state buyers comparing top realtors in Scottsdale should ask how each one runs the inspection calendar.
What should a seller do the day a BINSR arrives?
Read the whole list, sort it into items with a safety or system consequence and items that are cosmetic, and get written bids on the first group. The response is due within five days of delivery, so the bids have to be ordered the same day the list lands.
Get the inspection timeline in writing
Sold by Samantha is a real estate team in Scottsdale, Arizona, working Scottsdale Ranch, McCormick Ranch, Grayhawk, DC Ranch, Silverleaf, Windgate Ranch and greater Scottsdale. Sellers comparing Scottsdale realtors before listing can call (602) 541-3949 or visit liveitloveitlistit.com to walk through the inspection and BINSR dates on a specific contract.
This article is general information about Arizona real estate practice and is not legal advice. The BINSR, the inspection period and the disclosure notice are contract terms, and how a statute or a contract applies depends on the transaction. Confirm details with a licensed Arizona attorney.
