A buyer I know — sharp woman, had done her homework — called me a little frantic after her inspector got turned away at the front door. The listing agent had told him he couldn’t go through the house yet. Her earnest money was sitting in her bank account. The option fee hadn’t been wired. She was convinced the seller was pulling something shady.
They weren’t. And that’s the thing worth understanding before you find yourself in the same spot.
What the Texas Contract Actually Says
In a standard Texas residential purchase, you’re working with the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract. That contract gives buyers an option period — a window during which you can walk away for basically any reason at all. But that option period doesn’t start ticking the moment you sign the contract. It starts when the option fee is delivered to the seller or their agent.
The earnest money has its own deadline too, usually three business days after the effective date to get it to the title company.
Until those deposits are made, the contract isn’t fully executed in the practical sense. You haven’t paid for the right to inspect and back out. The seller hasn’t been compensated for taking their home off the market.
So yes — a seller can say, not yet. And most real estate attorneys in Texas will tell you that’s a defensible position.
Why Sellers Actually Do This
I’ll be honest: most sellers don’t do this because they’ve read the fine print carefully. They do it because their agent told them to, or because they had a bad experience with a previous buyer who tied up the house for ten days and then backed out the morning the option expired.
That said, there are a few legitimate reasons a seller might hold the line:
- They’ve been burned before. A buyer who hasn’t deposited anything has very little skin in the game yet.
- They want confirmation the wire cleared. Especially in a competitive market, they’re not interested in showing any vulnerability until funds are confirmed.
- Their attorney or agent advised it. Some seller’s agents have a standing policy here, particularly on higher-priced listings where the days off market actually cost something.
- They have multiple offers moving simultaneously. If they accepted your offer but there’s a backup, they may be waiting to see who performs first.
None of these are necessarily bad-faith moves. They’re just sellers acting in their own interest, which is exactly what they’re entitled to do.
What a Buyer Should Do Right Now
If you’re the buyer in this situation, the move is simple even if it doesn’t feel simple: get your money in as fast as humanly possible.
The option fee — in Texas that’s typically somewhere around $100 to a few hundred dollars on a regular residential deal, though I’ve seen it negotiate higher — needs to get to the seller. Not the title company. The seller. Or their agent. That’s what starts your clock.
The earnest money goes to the title company, and your contract should spell out the deadline in black and white. Get that wired or delivered before that deadline regardless of the inspection question, because failing to deposit earnest money on time can put you in default.
Once your option fee is delivered and confirmed, you have your option period. The seller cannot legally deny access for a properly scheduled inspection during that window. At that point, you’ve paid for the right to inspect, and interfering with that would be a problem on their end.
If you’re working with a buyer’s agent, they should be managing this timeline for you and following up with the listing agent the same day the contract is signed. If days are passing and nobody’s pushing on the deposits, that’s a process failure worth flagging.
One Thing Buyers Get Confused About Here
Some buyers think the inspection is a courtesy — something the seller is doing them a favor by allowing. That’s not quite right. Once you have an executed contract and a valid option period underway, access for inspection is part of the deal. The seller still gets to set reasonable times and have reasonable notice. They don’t have to let your inspector show up at six in the morning unannounced. But they can’t lock the door for no reason.
The gray zone is only that very short window between signing and depositing. That’s where the confusion usually lives.
If you’re shopping in a market where first-time buyers are competing for a limited pool of homes, moving fast on deposits matters even more. Hesitation reads as weakness, and a seller holding a backup offer will notice if your earnest money is three days late.
Before You Make an Offer, Know Your Timeline
Here’s the practical thing I’d actually do: before you write an offer, ask your agent to walk you through the deposit logistics so nothing surprises you after you sign.
Specifically, know:
- Where does the option fee go, and how does it need to be delivered? Some sellers want a check; some accept wire. Know this before you sign, not after.
- What’s your earnest money deadline, and which title company is receiving it? Get their wiring instructions the same day the contract goes effective.
- What’s your option period length, and when does it start? Count from delivery of the option fee, not signature date.
- Does your agent have a confirmation process? You want written confirmation that the seller or their agent received the option fee. Don’t let that slip through the cracks.
The seller in my friend’s story wasn’t being unreasonable. She was just learning how the contract actually works versus how she assumed it worked. Once her funds were in, the inspection happened the next morning without a hitch.
Understanding the seller’s disclosure process is another piece of this — what you find in an inspection and what was already disclosed can tell you very different things about who knew what and when. Worth reading before you get to that stage.
Get your money in. Get your option period started. Then go look at every corner of that house.