What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted in Texas?

Once your offer is accepted in Texas, you are under contract and a set of clocks starts running immediately. Within three days you deliver earnest money and the option fee. Within roughly seven to ten days you complete your inspection and decide whether to proceed. Then the appraisal, title work, and lender underwriting run in parallel for another three to five weeks until closing.

Almost every problem I see in this stage comes from one thing: a buyer who did not realize that deadlines in the Texas contract are counted in calendar days, including weekends and holidays, and that missing one can cost real money or real rights.

Day 1 to 3: Money Moves

Execution. The contract is executed when the last party signs and it has been delivered. That date starts every clock in the document, so know it exactly.

Option fee. You pay the seller for the right to terminate the contract for any reason during the option period. In El Paso this is commonly $200 to $500. Under current Texas contract forms it is delivered to the title company along with the earnest money. Deliver it on time or you may not have an option period at all.

Earnest money. A good faith deposit held by the title company, commonly $1,000 to $3,000 here, and credited to you at closing. It is not a fee. It is your money unless you default. The earnest money guide covers when it is at risk.

Open title. Your agent sends the contract to the title company, which opens the file and begins the title search.

Notify your lender. Send the executed contract the same day. Underwriting cannot start without it and the appraisal cannot be ordered.

Day 1 to 10: The Option Period

This is the most important window in a Texas purchase and it is short.

Schedule the inspection immediately. Good El Paso inspectors book up. Call the day the contract executes, not the day after you think about it.

Attend if you can. Two hours with an inspector teaches you more about the house than every showing combined. If you are buying remotely, ask your agent to attend and to call you from the property.

Consider specialty inspections. In El Paso the common add ons are a sewer scope on older homes, a foundation evaluation where there is visible movement, a roof inspection on flat and built up roofs, and a termite report.

Negotiate repairs before the deadline, not after. Once the option period expires, you lose the unrestricted right to walk. Your agent submits an amendment requesting repairs or a price reduction, and the seller can accept, counter, or refuse.

Decide. If the house is wrong, terminate in writing before the option period ends. You forfeit the option fee and get the earnest money back. That is the entire point of paying for the option.

The mechanics are covered in detail in the Texas option period guide and what to look for in the home inspection guide.

Day 10 to 25: Appraisal and Title

The appraisal. Your lender orders it, usually right after the option period ends so you are not paying for one on a house you might terminate. In El Paso it typically takes one to two weeks. If the value comes in at or above the contract price, nothing happens and you move on. If it comes in low, you renegotiate, bring cash to cover the gap, or terminate under the appraisal provision if your contract has one. The appraisal guide covers your options.

Title commitment. The title company produces a document listing what it will insure and what it will not. Read Schedule B, the exceptions. Easements, mineral reservations, and restrictions all show up here. Most are routine. Some are not.

Survey. Either the seller provides an existing survey with an affidavit or a new one is ordered. This is what confirms that the fence is actually on the property line, which in older El Paso neighborhoods is not always true. See the title, survey, and closing guide.

Homeowners insurance. Shop it now, not the week of closing. Your lender needs the binder before they can produce final numbers.

Day 25 to Closing: Underwriting

This is the quiet stretch where the deal either stays on track or drifts.

Your lender will send conditions, which are requests for documents. Answer them the same day. Every day you take is a day added to the closing date.

Things that derail deals in this window, in order of how often I see them:

1. New credit. Financing furniture, opening a store card, buying a car. Do not.
2. Changing jobs. Even for more money. Tell your lender before you do anything.
3. Large unexplained deposits. Any deposit that is not payroll needs a paper trail. Cash deposits are the worst offender.
4. Moving money between accounts. It makes the trail harder to follow. Leave it where it is.
5. Slow document responses. The most common and the most preventable.

Three days before closing you receive the Closing Disclosure. Compare it to your Loan Estimate. Ask about anything that changed.

The day before or the morning of, do the final walkthrough. Confirm repairs were completed, the house is empty, and the systems still work. This is the last leverage you have.

Closing Day

You sign at the title company. Bring a government issued photo identification and wired funds, since most Texas title companies no longer accept large cashier's checks. Wire fraud is real and active in El Paso, so verify wire instructions by calling the title company at a number you looked up independently, never a number in an email.

After signing, the lender funds and the deed records. Keys usually transfer that afternoon or the next morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the option period in Texas?

It is negotiated, but 7 to 10 days is standard in El Paso. It begins the day after the contract is executed and it counts calendar days.

Can I back out after my offer is accepted?

Yes, during the option period, for any reason, by delivering written notice before it expires. You lose the option fee and keep your earnest money. After the option period, your ability to terminate depends on financing, appraisal, and title provisions in the contract.

What is the difference between earnest money and the option fee?

The option fee buys you the right to terminate for any reason during a set window and is generally not refundable. Earnest money is a deposit held by the title company that credits toward your purchase and is refundable in most contract permitted terminations.

When do I pay for the inspection?

You pay the inspector directly, usually at the time of the inspection, and it is not refundable. Budget $350 to $600 for a standard El Paso home inspection.

What happens if the appraisal comes in low?

You can renegotiate the price, pay the difference in cash, split it with the seller, or terminate if your contract preserves that right. Your agent should have comparable sales ready to support a rebuttal.

How long from accepted offer to closing in Texas?

Typically 30 to 45 days for a financed purchase, about two weeks for cash. The full timeline breakdown walks through each stage.

The Bottom Line

Getting an offer accepted is the start of the process, not the end of it. The next ten days matter most, and the single most valuable habit you can have is answering your lender and your agent the same day they ask you for something.

If you are under contract and want a dated checklist of every deadline in your specific agreement, send me the executed contract. I will map it out day by day.