What Happens After the Home Inspection When You Buy in Frisco, Texas?

After the inspection, you read the report, decide which findings matter to you, and then choose a path before the option period ends: accept the home as it is, negotiate repairs, a credit or a lower price in a written amendment, or end the contract. Nothing in the report forces the seller to fix anything. Every change is a negotiation, and it only counts once both of you sign it.

I'm Omega Mejia, a real estate agent with Simply Great Real Estate Group, and I help buyers find homes in Frisco, Texas and across Collin County. If you are buying your first home, the report can feel like a list of reasons to panic. My post on the option period covers the fee and the deadline. This post picks up the day the report lands in your inbox.

The report tells you the condition of each system the inspector could see and reach on the day of the inspection. The Texas Real Estate Commission requires inspectors it licenses to follow its Standards of Practice and to give Texas clients a completed TREC Property Inspection Report Form, known as REI 7-6, first, no matter what other report the inspector also provides.

On that form, the inspector marks each item as inspected, not inspected, not present or deficient. An item is marked deficient when a condition adversely and materially affects how a system or component performs, or when it is a hazard to life, limb or property.

Two lines on the form help keep the report in perspective. The inspector is not required to rank one deficiency above another, and the inspection is not a technically exhaustive one or a building code review. The form also explains that some conditions met the codes in place when the home was built but count as hazards by today's standards, such as missing GFCI or arc-fault protection, ordinary glass where safety glass is used today, and missing smoke alarms. Inspectors must mark those as deficient. That is why a report on a well-kept Frisco home can still run long.

No. The TREC report form says that items marked deficient do not obligate any party to make repairs or take other actions, and that the decision to correct a hazard or deficiency is left to the parties to the contract.

The contract says the same thing in its own way. Paragraph 22 of the Texas resale contract, TREC form 20-19, says the contract cannot be changed except by the written agreement of the parties. So a repair happens because you and the seller agreed to it in writing, not because it appeared in a report.

You also keep your options if you agreed to take the home as is. Paragraph 7D of the form defines as is as the present condition with any and all defects, and it says that accepting the property as is does not stop you from inspecting, from negotiating repairs or treatments in a later amendment, or from ending the contract during the option period.

The findings that deserve your attention are the ones that affect safety, the major systems and the cost of owning the home in the years ahead. Because the inspector does not rank deficiencies, that sorting is the part where I spend the most time with my buyers. I help you separate serious items from normal wear, so the request you send the seller is about what matters to you.

The report form itself recommends that any further evaluations and cost estimates from qualified service professionals happen before contract deadlines such as the option period run out. It also notes that those evaluations can turn up more deficiencies that were not visible on inspection day. That is why the first few days after the report matter so much: a roofer, plumber or foundation specialist needs time to visit and send a number before you decide.

You can request repairs, a credit toward your expenses, a lower price, or a mix of those, and each one goes into TREC's Amendment to Contract, form 39-11, which TREC lists as effective July 1, 2026. TREC describes it as the form used to change or add terms to a contract that has already been signed.

The amendment has a line for each kind of change. One line lists repairs and treatments the seller will complete at the seller's expense, with a notice that paragraph 7 of the contract governs how they are completed. Another line changes the sales price. Another changes the amount in paragraph 12A(1)(b), which is the seller's contribution toward the buyer's expenses. My post on whether sellers are paying buyers' closing costs explains how that contribution works.

The same form also covers how lender required repairs will be split, a change to the closing date, an extension of the option period for an additional option fee, and a line where the buyer waives the option to terminate.

The seller can agree to your request, offer something different, or decline. A counteroffer might offer a credit in place of a repair, or fix some items and not others. Nothing changes until the amendment is signed by both sides.

If the seller agrees to repairs, paragraph 7F of the contract sets the rules. Unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, the seller completes agreed repairs before the closing date, obtains any required permits and uses licensed people, or people in that trade when no license is required. The seller must give you documentation from the repair person showing the scope of the work and payment for it, and must arrange, at the seller's expense, for any transferable warranties on the work to transfer to you at closing. If the seller does not finish the agreed repairs before the closing date, the form lets you use your remedies under paragraph 15 or extend the closing date up to 5 days so the work can be completed.

Lender required repairs follow a separate rule in paragraph 7E. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, neither party has to pay for repairs your lender requires, including treatment for wood destroying insects. If the parties do not agree to pay for them, the contract ends and your earnest money is refunded. If those repairs cost more than 5 percent of the sales price, you may end the contract and your earnest money is refunded.

If you and the seller are close but the clock is short, the amendment allows an extension of your option period for an additional option fee, and the form lets the parties state whether that extra fee will be credited to the sales price.

If you cannot reach an agreement and you still want out, the termination option in paragraph 5B of the contract lets you end the contract for any reason by giving notice by 5:00 p.m. local time on the last day of the option period. Your earnest money is refunded and the option fee is not. If you reach an agreement and want to move forward, the amendment includes a line where you waive that right to terminate, so the deal moves on to financing, appraisal and closing.

• Read the deficient items first. Start with the items marked D, since those are the conditions the inspector found to affect performance or safety.
• Sort safety and systems from wear. Group the roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling items apart from cosmetic notes.
• Bring in specialists early. Book any roofer, plumber or foundation contractor in the first days, so estimates arrive before the option period ends.
• Choose your request. Decide whether repairs, a credit toward your expenses, a price change or a mix fits your budget and your timeline.
• Put every agreement in a signed amendment. A repair promise in an email or a phone call is not part of the contract until it is on TREC form 39-11 and signed.
• Keep the 5:00 p.m. deadline in front of you. Your option period ends at 5:00 p.m. local time on the date in your contract, whether or not talks are finished.

Your first inspection report can run long, and the length alone feels like bad news. Read it as a map of the home, not a verdict on it. The items that touch safety or a major system are the ones worth negotiating, and the rest tell you what to plan for as an owner. If you are deciding between an older resale home and a new build, my new construction page explains how inspections fit into a builder's process.

If you are buying your first home in Frisco, Texas and want someone in your corner when the inspection report arrives, contact me and we will start with a buyer consultation. You can see how I guide a purchase on my buying a home page, read the short answer on my FAQ page, and follow every step from offer to keys on my process page. If you are under contract now and the report is already in, contact me today.

Source: Texas Real Estate Commission, One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), TREC No. 20-19, Amendment to Contract, TREC No. 39-11, and Property Inspection Report Form, REI 7-6; Texas Real Estate Commission, "What Consumers Should Know About Texas Property Inspections." This is general information, not legal, tax, financial or insurance advice.