In 2026, a standard 30-day due diligence window is rarely enough time to get through Florida's environmental and municipal review process, and deals that don't account for that fall apart unnecessarily.

Why Florida closing timelines fail

Most commercial deals in Florida don't collapse because of price. They collapse because the due diligence period runs out before the buyer can satisfy their lender's requirements. Environmental reports get delayed. Land surveys take longer than expected. Municipal approvals move at their own pace. When the clock runs out and none of that is done, the buyer is staring at a forfeited deposit and a dead deal.

What are Extension Buckets and how do they work?

An Extension Bucket is a negotiated clause in the PSA that lets the buyer purchase additional time, usually in 15 to 30 day increments, by depositing additional non-refundable funds into escrow. If an environmental report or survey gets held up by a third party, the buyer can trigger an extension rather than lose the deal entirely.

For sellers, this is not a concession. Every extension deposit is non-refundable, which means real financial security while the deal stays alive. For buyers, it is protection against a hard closing date that was always unrealistic given how Florida's review process actually works.

What to include in your PSA

The Feasibility Period should explicitly state how many extensions are available, the cost of each one, what triggers qualify for an extension, and whether extension deposits are credited toward the purchase price at closing or forfeited regardless.

Getting this language right before you sign matters more than almost anything else in the agreement.