The due diligence period in a commercial purchase agreement is a negotiated window in which the buyer can investigate and, usually, terminate. What matters is that the work finishes inside it.
Title and survey. Order both immediately. The commitment’s exceptions and the survey together reveal easements, encroachments and access problems, and objections normally have their own earlier deadline inside the diligence period.
Zoning and use. Confirm the intended use is permitted as of right rather than by a variance that may not survive. Check parking ratios, signage and any non-conforming use status.
Environmental. A Phase I assessment is standard; its recommendations decide whether a Phase II is needed, and that takes time the period may not allow.
Leases and estoppels. Read every lease rather than the rent roll. Then obtain estoppel certificates from tenants confirming the terms, the rent, and that no defaults exist — a rent roll is the seller’s summary, an estoppel is the tenant’s statement.
Service contracts, warranties and permits. Identify which survive the sale and which the buyer must assume.
Financials. Operating expenses, tax history and any pending assessment.
The recurring failure is sequencing: ordering the survey in week three of a thirty-day period, then discovering an access issue with four days left and no leverage to extend.