How long is the option period in Texas?

It's negotiated — commonly 7 to 10 days — purchased with a small option fee. It begins the day after the contract's effective date and ends at 5:00 p.m. local time on the final day, weekends included.

Do new construction homes need inspections?

Yes — builder contracts often reshape option-period protections, making third-party inspections more important: pre-pour, pre-drywall, final, and the 11-month inspection before the builder warranty expires.

Home / Buying / Option Period & Inspections

THE 7–10 DAYS THAT PROTECT EVERYTHING

The Texas option period & inspections, mastered

Texas gives buyers one concentrated window of power: the option period — a negotiated stretch (commonly 7–10 days, bought with a small option fee) during which you can walk for any reason and keep your earnest money. Everything that protects you happens inside it, on a clock that does not pause.

The clock and the checklist

The clock: day one is the day after the contract's effective date; the period ends at 5:00 p.m. local time on its final day, weekends included. Book the general inspection the day the contract executes — good inspectors run days out, and you need time after the report to react.

The inspection stack out here: the general inspection (~$400–600, TREC-licensed inspector) is the floor, not the ceiling. Corridor-specific add-ons that earn their fee: a foundation evaluation by a structural engineer whenever the general report hints at movement — this is expansive-clay country and foundation is the Texas deal-killer; HVAC deep-check on anything with a decade-old system (a Texas summer finds out); sewer scope on older Weatherford stock; and well and septic inspections on acreage (standard practice toward Brock — different licenses, different timelines, book immediately).

Then the negotiation: the report is leverage, not a verdict. Your options rank: repair amendment (seller fixes specified items), price reduction or closing-cost credit (often better — you control the contractor), or termination. Need more time for a specialist? Option-period extensions are negotiable for an additional fee — ask before it lapses, never after.

The new-construction variant

Builder contracts frequently omit or reshape the option period — which makes third-party inspections more important on new builds, not less. The standard cadence: pre-pour (foundation prep), pre-drywall (framing, plumbing, electrical while visible), and final before the walkthrough — plus the 11-month inspection before the builder's one-year warranty expires, the most skipped and most valuable one. Builders must allow reasonable inspection access; get the schedule in writing at contract. Full contract-context: the Texas process and the new-vs-resale ledger.

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the buyer's guide · the Builder Incentive Index · the rent-vs-buy engine · the HOA guide

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