Texas Contract & Transaction Specifics

License holders generally must use TREC-promulgated contract forms for standard residential transactions rather than drafting their own. Texas residential contracts commonly include a termination-option provision under which the buyer pays an option fee for an unrestricted right to terminate during a negotiated option period. Earnest money is placed with the escrow agent and held in a trust or escrow account. Because Texas is a community property state, marital property interests can affect how title and signatures on a transaction are handled.