California · CA
California purchase agreement deadlines: the CAR RPA timeline
California resales run on the CAR RPA. Contingency periods are printed in the agreement with a default number of days that the parties can strike and replace.
The standard form
Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA), published by California Association of Realtors.
The one quirk coordinators miss
Contingencies do not expire on their own. The buyer removes them in writing, and until they do, the seller's remedy is a Notice to Buyer to Perform, not an automatic cancellation.
Common starting values
California common starting values, editable
These are common starting values, not law and not any specific contract. Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA) prints defaults the parties can strike and replace, and riders routinely override them. Contract10 only asserts a period when it read that period off the page of a contract you upload, everything below is an editable starting point, not an assertion about your deal.
| Deadline | Starting value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Closing | 30 calendar days | Days after acceptance, when the contract states a period instead of a date. |
| Earnest money due | 3 business days | Deposit delivered to escrow. |
| Inspection period ends | 17 calendar days | Last day to complete inspections. |
| Appraisal contingency ends | 17 calendar days | Last day to act on a low appraisal. |
| Loan approval / financing contingency ends | 21 calendar days | Last day for the buyer's financing contingency. |
| Title review ends | 10 calendar days | Last day to object to the title commitment. |
| Seller disclosures delivered | 7 calendar days | Seller delivers statutory and contractual disclosures. |
| Final walkthrough | 3 calendar days | Days BEFORE closing, counted backward. |
Edit these values in the free calculator, pre-loaded for California →
What the engine computes
Every deadline type Contract10 tracks
- 1Earnest money due. Deposit must be delivered to escrow.
- 2Seller disclosures delivered. Seller must deliver the statutory and contractual disclosures.
- 3Inspection period ends. Last day to complete inspections.
- 4Inspection objection due. Last day for the buyer to object or request repairs.
- 5Title review ends. Last day to object to items in the title commitment.
- 6Appraisal contingency ends. Last day to act on a low appraisal.
- 7Loan approval / financing contingency ends. Last day for the buyer's financing contingency.
- 8All contingencies removed. Deadline to remove remaining contingencies in writing.
- 9Final walkthrough. Buyer's final walkthrough before signing.
See the full checklist with roll rules and day-basis defaults on the closing checklist page.
FAQ
California deadline questions
When is the inspection contingency due in California?
There is no single legal answer, it is whatever the executed contract says. Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA) prints a default the parties can strike and replace; on most California resales it starts near 17 calendar days from the acceptance date, but the only number that matters is the one on your contract.
What standard form do California resales use?
Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA), published by California Association of Realtors. California resales run on the CAR RPA. Contingency periods are printed in the agreement with a default number of days that the parties can strike and replace.
Do weekends count in real estate contract deadlines?
It depends on the contract's stated basis: calendar days count every day, business days skip weekends and holidays. When a computed deadline lands on a weekend or federal holiday, the engine rolls it forward to the next business day, except the final walkthrough, which rolls backward so it can't slip past closing.
What happens if you miss a contingency deadline?
Once a contingency period ends without the buyer acting (objecting, terminating, or removing it in writing, depending on the state's form), the right tied to that contingency is usually gone, and earnest money can be at risk from that moment. The exact consequence is written into the specific contract, not something Contract10 asserts on your behalf.
Other states
See another state's form and deadlines
Compute your real California deadlines
Type your actual dates into the calculator, or upload the executed contract for cited extraction.