Do Texas builders have to use the same contract as resale sellers?

No. Texas requires the standard TREC 1-4 Family Residential Contract for resale purchases, but builders write their own paperwork, and it isn't required to include the protections buyers assume come standard. The biggest gaps: no negotiated option period, tighter financing deadlines with real forfeiture risk, and inspection terms that often run through the builder rather than a buyer's own inspector.

By Brian White | July 22, 2026

If you've bought a resale home in Texas before, you already know the shape of a TREC contract. Option period, earnest money, financing contingency, your inspector, your terms. It's a form written by TREC's Broker-Lawyer Committee specifically to balance both sides.

Walk into a Furst Ranch or Whyburn sales office and sign the builder's paper instead, and you're in a different document entirely. Same state, same buyer, completely different set of rules. Most buyers don't find out how different until they're already deep into the process, and by then some of what they'd assumed was standard is simply gone.

The Big Gap: No Negotiated Option Period

The Texas option period is the thing most resale buyers take for granted. You pay a small option fee, and for a set number of days you can walk away for any reason, or no reason, and get your earnest money back.

Builder contracts typically don't include this at all. There's no equivalent unrestricted exit window built into the standard David Weekley, Toll Brothers, or Homebound purchase agreement. What you get instead is whatever specific, narrower cancellation terms that particular builder chose to write in, and those terms almost always favor the builder finishing the sale, not you changing your mind.

This matters more than it sounds like on paper. A resale buyer who gets cold feet, finds a better home, or has a life change during the option period can walk with minimal cost. A new-construction buyer under a builder contract usually can't, not without real financial exposure.

Financing and Earnest Money Work Differently Too

On a TREC resale contract, if your financing falls through, you get your earnest money back. That protection is built into the form.

Builder contracts handle this differently. You're typically given a financing deadline set by the builder's construction and closing timeline, not by how long your lender actually needs. Miss it, and many builder contracts treat that as a breach, with your deposit at risk of forfeiture rather than automatic return.

The deposit itself is also a bigger number to lose. Resale earnest money in Flower Mound and Southlake typically runs 1 to 2% of price, sometimes a flat few thousand dollars. New-construction earnest money commonly runs 3 to 5% or more, and can stack additional non-refundable deposits on top of your design center selections once you've picked finishes. On a $1.4 million Furst Ranch build, that's a meaningfully larger number sitting at risk than what you'd put down on a comparable resale purchase.

Inspections shift too. TREC contracts let you hire any inspector you want and negotiate repairs freely. Builder contracts frequently require builder-approved inspectors, and the builder's standard warranty is often presented as the only remedy rather than a negotiated repair list. That's worth understanding before you're standing at a pre-drywall walkthrough wondering what leverage you actually have.

None of this means new construction is a bad move. Furst Ranch, Whyburn, and the new Villas at Lakeside product from Homebound are drawing serious move-up interest in Flower Mound right now for good reason. It means you're negotiating from a different starting point than you're used to, and it's worth knowing that going in rather than discovering it mid-contract.

What You Can Still Do About It

You can't force a builder to hand you a TREC contract. But you're not powerless either.

• Bring your own agent before you walk into the sales office. The builder's on-site representative works for the builder. Your agent can review the specific contract language, flag which protections are missing, and in some cases negotiate modifications before you sign, particularly on financing deadlines and inspection terms.
• Read the cancellation and forfeiture clauses line by line. Know exactly what happens to your earnest money and design deposits if your financing timeline slips or your circumstances change.
• Hire your own inspector even if the builder pushes back, at both the pre-drywall stage and the final walkthrough. A builder-approved inspector answers to the builder first.
• Get real financing pre-approval, not an estimate, before you sign anything. Builder financing deadlines are tighter than resale timelines, and there's less room for a lender delay to become your problem instead of a contingency that protects you.

If you're weighing whether that trade-off is worth it against buying resale, it's the same math that goes into comparing new construction to resale in Flower Mound more broadly, contract protections included. And if you're looking at a home that's already under construction rather than a from-the-ground-up build, the process and your leverage shift again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I ask a builder to use a TREC contract instead of their own?

You can ask, but most builders will decline, especially large production builders like David Weekley or Toll Brothers who use standardized paperwork across every buyer. What you can realistically negotiate is modifications to specific clauses within their contract, particularly around financing deadlines and inspection rights, which is where having your own agent involved before you sign matters most.

Do I lose my earnest money automatically if my financing falls through on a new build?

It depends on the specific contract language, but many builder contracts treat a missed financing deadline as a breach rather than a protected contingency, which puts your deposit at risk. This is different from a TREC resale contract, where financing failure typically returns your earnest money. Read this clause closely before you sign, and confirm your actual financing timeline can realistically beat the builder's deadline.

Is it worth hiring my own inspector if the builder already has one?

Yes. A builder-approved or builder-provided inspector is still working within the builder's process, and their standard warranty is often treated as the default remedy rather than a real negotiation. An independent inspector at both the pre-drywall and final walkthrough stages works for you specifically, and gives you documentation if issues come up later.

Does this apply to every builder in Furst Ranch, Whyburn, and Lakeside?

The specifics vary by builder, since each writes its own contract, but the general pattern holds across David Weekley, Toll Brothers, and Homebound's Villas at Lakeside product: no TREC-style option period, tighter financing timelines, and inspection terms that favor the builder's process. Confirm the exact terms for your specific contract and builder before you sign, since language does shift between them.

Should I still consider new construction if the contract protections are weaker?

New construction can still be the right move for a lot of Flower Mound families, especially given the floor plans, energy efficiency, and lot availability in communities like Furst Ranch and Whyburn right now. The point isn't to avoid new construction, it's to walk in knowing your contract works differently than a resale purchase, so you can negotiate what's negotiable and protect yourself on what isn't.

If you're weighing a new-construction purchase in Furst Ranch, Whyburn, or Lakeside and want someone to walk through the actual contract with you before you sign, schedule a free Move-Up Strategy Call. Thirty minutes, no pitch, just a clear-headed look at what you're agreeing to and what's still worth negotiating.

About Brian White

Brian White helps families in Northwest DFW make their move-up cleanly, selling and buying in one synchronized step. He built BlueFuse Group on a simple standard: other-first service, proactive at every turn, faith and excellence in equal measure. Brian has been married to Tisha for 27 years and is dad to three adult sons. When he's not protecting a family's equity or untangling a tight closing timeline, you'll find him chasing a round of golf or at Valley Creek Church.

Schedule a Move-Up Strategy Call — no pitch, just a clear-headed look at your next move.