01
Does a shorter option period make an offer stronger?
Paragraph 5B of TREC Form 20-19, effective 1 July 2026, gives the buyer an unrestricted right to terminate. Notice has to reach the seller within a negotiated number of days after the effective date. The deadline is 5:00 p.m. local time on the date specified. The option fee is not refunded, and any earnest money is refunded. Fewer days means less time to look.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer works backward from the inspection calendar, not from the seller's wish. It sounds like this: the inspector can be out Thursday, the report lands the next day, so the notice deadline sits after that. In Williamson County buyers have been regaining leverage, with about 73 percent of listings reaching closing.
Red flag
A short option period is the buyer's protection being sold back to the seller. That should be a deliberate decision, not a reflex. A bad answer trims the Texas option period without checking whether an inspector is free in that window.
02
Can a bigger option fee win the house instead of a higher price?
Paragraph 5A has the buyer deliver the option fee to the escrow agent with the earnest money, within 3 days after the effective date. Paragraph 5A(4) then credits the option fee to the sales price at closing. So a larger option fee is money the buyer gets back. It is the cheapest credible signal on this list.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer ties the fee to the signal rather than to a round number. It sounds like this: the option fee goes up, it reaches the escrow agent on day one, and it comes off the sales price at closing.
Red flag
The credit only arrives at closing. A buyer who terminates under Paragraph 5B does not get the option fee back. A bad answer sells the raised fee as free money, then goes quiet when the inspection turns bad.
03
Does raising the earnest money make an offer stronger?
Earnest money sits in Paragraph 5 with the option, and Paragraph 5A sends it to the escrow agent within 3 days after the effective date. At closing it is applied first to any cash down payment, then to the buyer's expenses, and any excess is refunded. A bigger deposit is not a bigger cost. It is a bigger promise.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer explains how the deposit comes back. It sounds like this: the contract refunds the earnest money on each of the buyer's named termination rights, so the size of the deposit signals seriousness rather than spending.
Red flag
A buyer who is not sure the financing will hold should leave this lever alone. A bad answer treats a large deposit as a substitute for lender approval. The deposit does not make a loan land.
04
Why does delivering the earnest money early strengthen an offer?
Paragraph 5A gives the buyer 3 days after the effective date to deliver the earnest money and the option fee. The deadline moves to the next business day on a weekend or a legal holiday. Paragraph 5C lets the seller terminate by giving notice before the buyer delivers. Paragraph 5E says time is of the essence. Delivering on day one closes that door.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer names the day and the receipt. It sounds like this: the funds go to the escrow agent the morning after signing, and the receipt goes to the listing agent the same day.
Red flag
Waiting until the deadline costs nothing in price and risks the contract. Paragraph 5D adds a second trap. A buyer who misses the option fee deadline keeps the contract but loses the unrestricted right to terminate. A bad answer calls the deadline a cushion.
05
Should a buyer pay for the survey to make an offer easier to accept?
In Texas the survey is Paragraph 6C, and the parties check one box only. Box 2 has the buyer obtain a new survey at the buyer's expense. Box 3 has the seller furnish a new survey at the seller's expense. Checking Box 2 moves a real cost off the seller's side of the table, with no change to the price.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer names who the survey has to satisfy. It sounds like this: the survey has to be made by a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and to the buyer's lender, so the order goes out early.
Red flag
Box 2 hands the buyer both the cost and the clock. Box 1 runs the other way. The seller furnishes an existing survey with a T-47 affidavit or a T-47.1 declaration. Where the seller fails to furnish both in time, the buyer obtains a new survey at the seller's expense. A bad answer checks a box without reading which one.
06
Can a buyer offer to pay for the owner's title policy?
Paragraph 6A has the seller furnish an owner policy of title insurance in the amount of the sales price. It is furnished at either the seller's or the buyer's expense, as checked on the form. There is no preprinted default. A buyer who checks the buyer box is handing the seller a real number, with no change to the price.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer treats the policy as a line in the contract. It sounds like this: the box is checked buyer, and the premium sits in the buyer's closing estimate before the offer goes in.
Red flag
Paragraph 6A carries no default, so an offer that leaves the box blank leaves money unassigned. A bad answer says the seller customarily pays in Texas. The form asks which box, not what is customary.
07
Is it better to shorten the financing window or waive it?
Paragraph 2A of the Texas Third Party Financing Addendum, Form 40-11, covers buyer approval. A buyer who cannot obtain it may terminate within a negotiated number of days after the effective date. Notice goes to the seller with a written statement from the lender setting out the reasons, and the earnest money is refunded. Shortening those days is a concession.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer comes from the lender, not from the buyer. It sounds like this: underwriting has the file already, and the loan officer will put a shorter approval window in writing, so the contract can carry it.
Red flag
Waiving financing is not a tactic. It is an exposure. A bad answer deletes Paragraph 2A to look like a cash buyer, then leans on hope. The honest move is to shorten the window rather than remove the protection.
08
How should a buyer handle an appraisal gap in a multiple offer situation?
Paragraph 2B of the financing addendum covers the lender's view of the property. That includes appraisal, insurability and lender required repairs. Where the lender decides the property does not satisfy its underwriting requirements, the buyer may terminate on or before the 3rd day before the closing date. Notice and the lender's written statement are required, and the earnest money is refunded.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer carries a figure the buyer can produce. It sounds like this: the buyer will cover a shortfall up to a stated amount, the cash is already in the account, and the statement is ready to prove it. Buyers in Georgetown should set that number before offer day.
Red flag
Agreeing to cover a shortfall is a cash commitment. A bad answer waves at the gap with a phrase like whatever it takes. A number that does not exist in the account is a promise the closing will test.
09
Does taking the house as is mean giving up the inspection?
Paragraph 7D of the Texas contract is clear. Agreeing to accept the property as is does not stop the buyer inspecting under Paragraph 7A. It does not stop the buyer negotiating repairs in a later amendment. It does not stop the buyer terminating during the option period either. As is answers who pays for repairs. It does not close the buyer's eyes.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer separates the two ideas. It sounds like this: the offer is as is, so the seller carries no repair obligation up front, the inspection still happens, and anything serious goes into the option period decision.
Red flag
Reading as is as a waiver of the inspection is the most common misreading of this contract. A bad answer tells a buyer to skip the inspector to look serious. Paragraph 7A access and the Paragraph 5B option both survive an as is offer.
10
Can a later closing date or a leaseback win the house?
Paragraph 7A puts existing utilities on the seller. They go on immediately, at the seller's expense, and stay on while the contract is in effect. A closing that moves out therefore costs the seller something. Timing is a blank in the offer rather than a fixed date, so a buyer can shape it around the seller.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer starts with the seller's plan. In Georgetown, Round Rock and Liberty Hill, where T. Kerr Property Group works, the listing agent is the one to ask what closing date and possession the seller wants. The offer is then written to match, before anyone talks about price.
Red flag
Assuming a leaseback is welcome is a guess dressed as a concession. A bad answer writes a date that suits the buyer and calls it flexibility. Asking the seller's agent first is the whole lever.
This article is general information about the Central Texas market and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, rates, deadlines and district rules change. Confirm anything that affects a decision with a licensed attorney, a tax professional, the Williamson County Tax Assessor Collector or the Williamson Central Appraisal District before acting on it.
