Texas Real Estate Contract Mistakes to Avoid

The short version

• The option fee and earnest money are two different payments that do two different jobs.
• The option period is your paid window to inspect and walk away—miss it and you lose that right.
• Contract deadlines are strict and counted in days; calendar every one.
• Title and survey objections have short windows too.
• Handwritten edits to a TREC form can create ambiguity or unenforceable terms.

Mistake 1: Confusing the option fee and earnest money

On the standard TREC contract, the option fee buys you a set number of days to inspect the home and terminate for any reason. Earnest money is a good-faith deposit held by the title company and credited to you at closing. Buyers often assume they're the same, or that either one is automatically refundable—they aren't. Know which payment protects your right to walk and which is at risk if you default.

Mistake 2: Blowing a deadline

Texas real estate contracts run on dates and days: the option period, the financing-approval window, and the deadline to object to items on the title commitment or survey. Miss the option deadline and you generally lose the easy exit; miss a title-objection deadline and you may be stuck accepting a defect. Put every date on a calendar the day you sign, and don't rely on someone else to remind you.

Mistake 3: Skipping inspection or title review

In the Houston area, an inspection matters—clay soils move, so foundation and drainage issues are common, and much of the region carries flood-zone history worth checking. Read the title commitment, the survey, and any HOA documents before your objection deadline. These reveal easements, liens, deed restrictions, and boundary problems that are far cheaper to catch now than after closing.

Mistake 4: DIY edits to the contract

The "special provisions" box on the TREC form is deliberately narrow—real estate agents can't practice law, and rewriting terms yourself can make them unenforceable. For anything unusual—seller financing, a leaseback, a large repair credit, or buying through an entity—have a real estate attorney draft or review the language before you sign.