A contingency is a deadline, not an escape hatch
Candidates lose points by assuming that if a condition fails, the contract just dies. Under the Georgia forms it does the opposite: silence satisfies or waives the contingency, and the buyer must act in writing before the clock runs out.
Due diligence: count the days
Georgia rule. Due diligence deadlines run from the Binding Agreement Date. If that date is March 1 and the parties negotiated a 10-day period, counting 10 days puts the last day on March 11. A termination notice delivered March 12 is too late.
The traps: putting the notice in writing does not cure a missed deadline; a weekend does not extend it, because GAR extends no deadline except the closing date; and the period is not always 15 days — it is whatever the parties negotiated, typically 10, within a range of about 7 to 15.
Financing: notice plus a denial letter
Georgia rule. GAR F401 paragraph 5 deems the buyer to have the ability to obtain the loan, satisfying the contingency, unless before the end of the Financing Contingency Period the buyer notifies the seller of termination and then delivers a letter of loan denial within 7 days.
So the contract does not terminate automatically on failure of the contingency. Nothing obliges the seller to grant a 30-day extension, and the earnest money is not automatically refunded; a refund follows only a timely, properly documented termination.
The FHA Amendatory Clause
The clause says the buyer shall not be obligated to complete the purchase or forfeit earnest money unless given a written statement of appraised value, and keeps the privilege and option of proceeding without regard to the appraised valuation.
Contract price $300,000, FHA appraisal $290,000: the loan is based on the lesser of price or value, so the gap is $300,000 − $290,000 = $10,000 in cash if the buyer proceeds. The buyer cannot force a price cut to $290,000, the lender cannot lend on the $300,000 price, and termination does not depend on the seller refusing a second appraisal.