Texas Real Estate Contract Deadlines: Option Period, Financing & Survey
The dates that move a Texas deal from executed contract to the closing table, mapped to the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract paragraph by paragraph.
By Kyla, Transaction Coordinator, Perfect Path Transactions · Updated 2026-06-17
Educational information for Texas real estate professionals — not legal advice; verify current TREC rules and consult your broker or attorney.
How are days counted in a TREC contract?
Before any single deadline makes sense, you need the counting rule, because nearly every date in the contract is measured in days from the Effective Date. Per TREC, you start with the Effective Date (the date of final execution), and the first day of the period is the next day. Each day is counted as a calendar day — not a business day.
There is one narrow exception, and it matters. For the earnest money and option fee delivery deadline, if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline extends to the next business day. That weekend-and-holiday extension applies to that delivery deadline; the other deadlines below are counted in straight calendar days. Throughout, the "Effective Date" is the date the broker fills in after both parties have signed — the date of final acceptance.
When must earnest money and the option fee be delivered in Texas?
Under Paragraph 5 of the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract, the buyer must deliver the earnest money and the Option Fee to the escrow agent within 3 days after the Effective Date. If that third day lands on a weekend or legal holiday, it rolls to the next business day, as noted above.
This paragraph carries unusually strict consequences, and the contract says so: time is of the essence for it, and strict compliance with the time for performance is required. If the buyer fails to deliver the Option Fee on time (or no Option Fee amount is stated), the buyer loses the unrestricted right to terminate under the termination option. Failure to deliver the earnest money on time gives the seller remedies, including the ability to terminate. A coordinator watches this first deadline more closely than almost any other because there is no grace built into it.
What is the option period in a Texas residential contract?
The termination option — what most agents simply call the option period — gives the buyer an unrestricted right to terminate the contract within a negotiated number of days after the Effective Date, in exchange for the Option Fee. The number of days is a blank in the contract; it is a negotiated term, not a figure the TREC form fixes.
Notice of termination must be given by 5:00 p.m. local time on the last day of the option period. If the buyer terminates within that window, the Option Fee is not refunded, but the earnest money is refunded to the buyer. Because the period is short and the cutoff is a hard clock time, the coordinator tracks the exact expiration date and time and reminds the agent ahead of it, so an inspection-driven decision is never lost to a missed deadline.
How does the financing deadline work?
When a buyer is financing, the contract's financing contingency lives in the Third Party Financing Addendum, which is checked in the addenda section of the contract. The number of days for the buyer to obtain financing approval is filled in on the addendum itself, not in the main contract body — it is a negotiated figure specific to each deal.
Practically, this means the coordinator reads the executed addendum to capture the financing-approval deadline and adds it to the calendar alongside the option period and the title dates. Because the exact deadline structure is set on the addendum form, agents and coordinators should confirm the current addendum language for each transaction rather than assume a fixed number of days.
What are the title commitment and survey deadlines?
Paragraph 6 carries the title and survey timeline. For the title commitment, the seller must furnish the buyer a commitment for title insurance, along with legible copies of the restrictive covenants and the documents evidencing exceptions, within 20 days after the title company receives a copy of the contract. If that does not happen in time, the time for delivery is automatically extended up to 15 days, or to 3 days before the Closing Date, whichever is earlier — and the buyer may terminate if it is still not delivered within the extended time.
The survey is handled by one of three options in Paragraph 6, with the number of days a negotiated blank in each: the seller furnishes an existing survey within a set number of days after the Effective Date (with the buyer able to obtain a new one at the seller's expense if the seller fails); the buyer obtains a new survey at the buyer's expense within a set number of days; or the seller furnishes a new survey within a set number of days. A new survey must come from a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and the buyer's lender.
What is the title objection deadline, and what if the buyer misses it?
The buyer must object to defects shown in the title commitment, exception documents, or survey by the earlier of (i) the Closing Date or (ii) a negotiated number of days after the buyer receives the commitment, exception documents, and survey. Failing to object within that window is a waiver of those items — which is why the coordinator ties the objection deadline to the actual delivery dates of those documents rather than to a guess.
If the buyer does object, the seller has a cure period — up to 15 days after receiving the objections — to cure them. If the objections are not cured within that period, the buyer then has a short window (5 days after the cure period ends) to either terminate or waive the unresolved objections. These dates chain together, so the coordinator tracks each one in sequence to keep the path to closing clear.
Under Paragraph 5 of the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract, both must be delivered to the escrow agent within 3 days after the Effective Date. If the last day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline extends to the next business day. Time is of the essence for this paragraph.
Calendar days, per TREC. Day 1 begins the day after the Effective Date. The only exception is earnest money and option fee delivery — if that deadline falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it extends to the next business day.
If no Option Fee amount is stated or the buyer fails to deliver it on time, the buyer loses the unrestricted right to terminate under the termination option. Failure to deliver the earnest money on time allows the seller to terminate or pursue remedies.
Within 20 days after the title company receives a copy of the contract. If it is not delivered in time, the deadline automatically extends up to 15 days, or to 3 days before closing, whichever is earlier, and the buyer may terminate if it still is not delivered.
The buyer must object by the earlier of (i) the Closing Date or (ii) the negotiated number of days after receiving the commitment, exception documents, and survey. Missing this deadline waives the right to object to those title items.