The Option Period on a Texas FSBO Sale: Inspections, Repair Requests, and TREC 39-9

The option period is where most Texas FSBO sales get won or lost. The contract is signed, the buyer paid a small option fee for the unrestricted right to terminate, and now they're sending an inspector through your house with a $600 report and a repair wish list. What you do in the next seven to ten days decides whether you close at contract price, renegotiate, or start over with a new buyer.

This is not the moment to freelance. The mechanics of the termination option, inspection response, and TREC 39-9 Amendment are tightly defined by the contract, and FSBO sellers who understand the timing have real leverage.

What the option period actually buys the buyer

Paragraph 5 of TREC 20-17 (One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale)) covers both earnest money and the termination option. The buyer pays a specified option fee to the seller — not the title company — in exchange for the unrestricted right to terminate the contract by giving written notice within the option period. The fee is negotiable, but on Bexar County resale deals it typically runs $100–$500 for a 5–10 day window, sometimes higher on more expensive homes or longer periods.

A few things worth being precise about:

• The option fee is paid to the seller and is non-refundable if the buyer does not terminate. It is credited to the sales price at closing only if the box is checked.
• The option period starts the effective date of the contract and runs for the number of days written in — calendar days, not business days.
• If the buyer terminates within the period for any reason (or no reason), they get their earnest money back. You keep the option fee.
• If the buyer misses the deadline by one hour, they lose the unrestricted right to terminate. After that, they can still walk, but they may forfeit earnest money depending on which contingencies remain.

As an FSBO seller, calendar the option deadline the day the contract is executed. Put it in your phone. This date matters more than the closing date for the next two weeks.

The inspection is not the contract

Within the option period, the buyer will hire a TREC-licensed inspector (the Real Estate Inspector license is regulated by TREC, separately from the sales agent license). In San Antonio you'll see reports flag a predictable set of items:

• Foundation movement on homes built on Bexar County's expansive clay soils — especially on the south and west sides, and in older sections of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, and Olmos Park where 1940s–1960s slab and pier-and-beam homes have decades of movement.
• HVAC systems undersized or aging — a 20-year-old 3-ton unit is going to get called out, and in 100-degree summers buyers care.
• Roof age and hail damage, especially on homes that were in the paths of the 2016, 2021, and later Bexar County hailstorms.
• Cast iron drain lines in pre-1970 homes in Southtown (78204, 78210), Beacon Hill, and the near west side.
• Aluminum wiring in homes built roughly 1965–1973.

The inspection report is a list of observations. It is not a demand and it is not part of the contract. Buyers routinely send the full report with everything highlighted; that is not how you should read it. The only document that legally matters is the buyer's written repair request, and even that is just an opening position.

The buyer's repair request

There are two paths a buyer can take after the inspection.

Path 1: Terminate. The buyer sends a Notice of Buyer's Termination of Contract before the option deadline. You keep the option fee, buyer gets earnest money back, deal is dead. No negotiation.

Path 2: Ask for repairs or a price reduction. The buyer sends a proposed amendment — usually a filled-out TREC 39-9 (Amendment to Contract) — asking you to either complete specific repairs before closing, credit money at closing, or reduce the sales price. This is a negotiation, not an obligation. You can accept, counter, or refuse.

If you refuse and the buyer doesn't terminate within the option period, the contract stays exactly as written. The buyer takes the house as-is, subject only to whatever the contract already required (working HVAC, no undisclosed defects, etc.). This is the leverage point most FSBO sellers don't realize they have.

TREC 39-9: what it changes, what it doesn't

The Amendment to Contract (TREC 39-9) is the standard form used to modify a resale contract after execution. On repair negotiations, it typically shows up with one or more of these changes:

• Sales price reduction (Paragraph 1)
• Seller to complete specific repairs prior to closing (Paragraph 3)
• Seller to give buyer a closing cost credit (Paragraph 8 or similar)
• Closing date extension (Paragraph 6)

What 39-9 does not do: it doesn't reopen the option period, it doesn't waive the buyer's other contingencies, and it doesn't make the inspection report part of the contract. If you agree to fix "the items in the inspection report," you have just made a 200-page PDF your scope of work. Never do this. Always specify repairs by line item with clear language: "Seller to replace the water heater in the garage with a comparable 40-gallon gas unit, installed by a licensed plumber, prior to closing."

Both parties sign 39-9. The title company (in Bexar County typically Independence Title, Alamo Title, Texas National, Stewart, or one of the local branches) needs a copy for their file so the settlement statement reflects any price or credit changes.

Negotiating without an agent in the middle

When the buyer has an agent and you don't, the repair request will come by email from the agent, often with urgency framing. Slow it down. You have until the option deadline to respond, and there is no rule that says you must accept the first draft.

A reasonable FSBO playbook:

1. Read the full inspection report yourself. Sort items into three buckets: safety/major systems (HVAC, roof leaks, electrical hazards, active plumbing leaks, foundation), material defects, and cosmetic/informational.
2. Ignore the cosmetic bucket. "Grout is cracked in the guest bath" is not a negotiation item.
3. For safety/major items, decide what you're willing to do — repair, credit, or price cut. Credits are usually cleaner than repairs because you don't warrant the work.
4. Counter with a written 39-9 that addresses only the items you agreed to. Do not itemize what you rejected; just don't include it.
5. Send it back with a deadline that lands before the option period ends.

Credits at closing (a specific dollar amount toward buyer's closing costs, subject to the lender's allowed limits) are often the FSBO seller's best tool. You don't hire contractors, don't schedule work, don't warrant repairs, and the deal moves forward.

What most people get wrong

• Treating the inspection report as a punch list. It is a buyer's discovery document. Your obligations come from the contract and the Seller's Disclosure Notice (OP-H), not from the inspector's opinions.
• Agreeing to "repair all items noted." This is an open-ended commitment that closes on the buyer's terms, not yours. Always list specific repairs with specific standards.
• Panicking on day two of the option period. The buyer has the full window to decide. Responding to the initial email with concessions before the repair request is even drafted gives away leverage for nothing.
• Missing the option deadline yourself. If the buyer sends a proposed amendment and you're still "thinking about it" past the deadline, and the buyer doesn't terminate, the contract remains as-is at contract price. That's fine for you — but if you've verbally agreed to something and it isn't in a signed 39-9, it doesn't exist.
• Doing the repairs with unlicensed labor to save money. For anything electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or roofing, use licensed trades and keep receipts. Buyers will re-inspect and lenders sometimes require proof.
• Confusing the option period with the financing contingency. Even after the option period ends, a buyer with a Third Party Financing Addendum can still terminate if their loan is denied under the terms of that addendum. Option period ending is not deal-closed.

When to bring in help

If the inspection surfaces something structural — foundation heave, active roof leak, sewer line collapse — get a licensed specialist's opinion before you counter. A structural engineer's letter or a plumbing camera report is worth more in negotiation than any inspector's photo. And if the buyer's agent is pushing an amendment with unusual clauses (waiver of survey, non-standard timelines, assumption terms), have a Texas real estate attorney review it before you sign. TREC forms are protected; custom addenda are not.

When you're ready to list, price, and take offers on your own, you can post an FSBO free at /list-your-home, compare current listings and rentals across Bexar County at /rentals, or read the rest of the FSBO series at /resources. If you decide mid-deal that you'd rather hand the negotiation to a licensed pro, /agents will connect you with a San Antonio agent who works with FSBO conversions.