Can You Change Your Mind After Signing a Contract on a Frisco, Texas Home?

You can change your mind after signing a contract on a Frisco, Texas home only if the contract gives you a way out. Texas has no automatic three-day or 72-hour cooling-off period for a home purchase, so any right you have to cancel is written into the contract itself. The most common way out is the option period, and it works only if you paid for it on time.

I'm Omega Mejia, a real estate agent with Simply Great Real Estate Group, and I help buyers in Frisco, Texas and across Collin County. If you have ever signed something big and felt your stomach drop, this post is for you. It explains what protects you after you sign, and what puts your earnest money at risk.

No. Some consumer purchases come with a window to cancel. A timeshare buyer in Texas can cancel by giving notice before the sixth day after signing. A home purchase does not work that way. Once the contract is signed, you are bound by what it says.

That surprises a lot of buyers, especially first-timers. The feeling that you can sleep on it and undo it is natural, and it is not how a Texas home contract works. Every right you have is in the contract, which is why the next sections matter.

The option period is the closest thing a Texas buyer has to a cooling-off window, and it is a negotiated term, not an automatic one. A buyer pays an agreed option fee to the seller, and in return gets the unrestricted right to terminate the contract for any reason by giving the seller written notice during the option period.

A few details carry real weight. The option fee is not refunded when you terminate, but your earnest money is. Days in the option period are calendar days, and the count starts the day after the effective date of the contract. And if the option fee is not paid on time, you do not have the unrestricted right to terminate, which can turn a comfortable exit into a locked door.

Buyers use the same window to inspect the home and negotiate repairs through an amendment to the contract. My post on the option period when buying in Frisco walks through how that plays out, and my inspections and option period page shows where it sits in the timeline.

No. The termination option is a negotiable contract term, so it is not required. A buyer can write an offer with an option period, with a different length, or without one. Each choice has a trade, because a seller may weigh an offer with no option period differently from one that includes it.

When I write an offer, I walk the buyer through how long the option period should run, what the fee is, and the date and time it expires. The point is that you decide with your eyes open, before you sign, instead of finding out after.

Earnest money is the deposit that shows you are serious about the contract. In a Texas contract, the buyer delivers it to the escrow agent, usually the title company, within the time the contract sets. If a buyer misses that deadline, the seller may terminate the contract, use the remedies the contract provides, or both.

That means two dates deserve a spot on your calendar the day you sign: the date the earnest money is due and the date your option period ends. Miss the first, and the seller gets options. Miss the second, and your free exit is gone.

Earnest money is usually moved electronically, and that is where scammers aim. My post on how Frisco buyers protect their money from wire fraud covers the moves that keep it protected.

They are two separate payments that do two separate jobs. The option fee is what you pay the seller for the right to walk away during the option period. It belongs to the seller and is not refunded when you use that right. Earnest money is your deposit toward the purchase. It goes to the escrow agent, and it comes back to you if you terminate under the option period.

Buyers mix the two up all the time, and the mix-up costs money. A buyer who believes the option fee is refundable plans their exit on the wrong math. A buyer who thinks earnest money is gone the moment they sign worries over a number that is protected as long as they act inside the option period.

You lose the free exit. After the option period ends, you are bound by the rest of the contract, and your way out depends on what else the contract allows. Days in the period are counted as calendar days beginning the day after the effective date, so the last day arrives sooner than most buyers expect.

That is why I tell buyers to put the end of the option period on their calendar with a time, and not only a date, the day they sign. If you want to use it to inspect the home and negotiate repairs, plan that work for the first days of the period, so you still have room to decide.

Not the Texas Real Estate Commission. TREC does not have jurisdiction to decide which party is entitled to earnest money, and it does not have jurisdiction over title companies. The contract forms let the broker require the buyer and seller to agree on who receives the money and to sign a release before it is paid out.

If the two sides cannot agree, a private attorney is the path. That is the most expensive outcome in this whole process, and it usually starts with a missed date or a loose understanding of the contract. Better to know the dates up front than to argue about them later.

You can take most of the fear out of signing with a short routine:

• Choose the option period before you write the offer. It is a negotiated term, so decide its length and fee on purpose.
• Put every deadline on your calendar the day you sign. Earnest money due, option period ends, and closing.
• Pay the option fee on time. An unpaid fee costs you the unrestricted right to terminate.
• Use the option period for what it is for. Inspect, learn the home, and negotiate repairs while you can still walk.
• Send written notice if you decide to terminate. The right to terminate is exercised in writing during the option period.

If you are getting ready to buy in Frisco, Texas and want to know how much room you will have after you sign, start with my buying a home page and the buying process. My making an offer page shows where the option period and earnest money fit. You can read the short answers on my FAQ page. If you want to build your offer with me, contact me.

Source: Texas Real Estate Commission, consumer frequently asked questions on earnest money, the option period and cooling-off periods. This is general information, not legal, tax, financial or insurance advice.