To calculate the option period in Texas, treat the contract’s effective date as Day Zero and start counting the next calendar day as Day 1. Every day counts, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and the period ends at 5:00 p.m. local time on the final day. A 10-day option period on a contract with a Monday effective date runs Tuesday as Day 1 through the following Thursday as Day 10.
The Effective Date Is Day Zero
The single most common miscalculation is counting the effective date itself as Day 1. It isn’t. The effective date is Day Zero, and the count begins the following day.1Texas Real Estate Commission. Option Fee Delivery Consequences
The effective date is the date the last party signed and the contract became fully executed, as filled in on the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract. Get that date wrong and every day after it is wrong too. Confirm the effective date on the executed contract before you start counting anything else.
Every Calendar Day Counts
The TREC contract counts calendar days, not business days. Weekends count. Federal holidays count. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fourth of July all count. There is no automatic rollover to the next business day when the last day of the option period lands on a weekend or holiday.
If Day 10 falls on a Sunday, the option period expires at 5:00 p.m. that Sunday. If it falls on Christmas Day, it expires at 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. Title companies and brokerages may be closed, so plan around that rather than assume the deadline moves.
A Worked Example
Take a 10-day option period on a contract with an effective date of November 1:
- November 1: Effective date (Day Zero)
- November 2: Day 1
- November 3: Day 2
- November 4 through November 10: Days 3 through 9
- November 11: Day 10, option period expires at 5:00 p.m. local time
The same pattern applies at any length. For a 7-day option period with the same effective date, Day 7 falls on November 8 and the period expires at 5:00 p.m. that day. For a 5-day period, it expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 6.
What “Local Time” Means
The 5:00 p.m. deadline runs on the local time where the property is located, not where the buyer happens to be sitting.2Texas Real Estate Research Center. Option Period Basics A buyer traveling in a different time zone during the option period needs to convert. A property in Central Time expiring at 5:00 p.m. is 3:00 p.m. for a buyer in California and 6:00 p.m. for a buyer on the East Coast.
Why 5:00 P.M. Is a Hard Deadline
Paragraph 5 of the TREC contract includes a “time is of the essence” clause for the option period. The deadlines for delivering the option fee and for sending termination notice must be strictly met, with no grace period.2Texas Real Estate Research Center. Option Period Basics
Some states’ standard contracts push a weekend or holiday deadline to the next business day automatically. The TREC residential contract does not. 5:00 p.m. on the final day is the deadline whether that day is a Tuesday or a Sunday.
The Separate Three-Day Fee Deadline
The count for the option period itself is one deadline. There is another that runs alongside it, and missing it wipes out the option period entirely: the option fee must be delivered to the escrow agent within three days of the effective date.1Texas Real Estate Commission. Option Fee Delivery Consequences
Paragraph 5D of the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Form 20-18) is direct about the consequence. If no dollar amount is stated as the option fee, or if the buyer fails to deliver the fee on time, the unrestricted right to terminate does not exist.1Texas Real Estate Commission. Option Fee Delivery Consequences The contract is still in force, but the safety net is gone. Count those three days the same way you count the option period: the effective date is Day Zero, and Day 1 is the next day.
Extending Before the Clock Runs Out
If inspections uncover something that needs more time, the buyer and seller can extend the option period by signing TREC’s Amendment to Contract (Form 39-10).3Texas Real Estate Commission. Amendment to Contract Both signatures are required. The seller can refuse, and many will ask for additional option fee money in exchange for the extra days.
The signed amendment has to be in place before the original 5:00 p.m. deadline. Once the option period expires, the unrestricted termination right is gone and there is nothing to extend. If inspections are running behind, start the extension conversation days ahead of the deadline, not hours.
Turning the Count Into a Timely Termination
Counting the days correctly only matters if the termination notice actually arrives before 5:00 p.m. on the final day. Verbal notice does not satisfy the contract. The buyer must deliver written notice, and TREC provides the Notice of Buyer’s Termination of Contract (Form 38-8) for that purpose.4Texas Real Estate Commission. Notice of Buyers Termination of Contract
Paragraph 21 of the contract sets out how notices can be delivered: hand delivery, mail, fax, and electronic transmission are all acceptable.5Texas Real Estate Commission. One to Four Family Residential Contract Resale Email qualifies as electronic transmission, so a signed termination form sent by email to the seller or the seller’s agent works if it arrives before the deadline.
Send it well before the last hour. A notice going out at 4:55 p.m. invites a dispute over whether delivery actually occurred in time. If timing is tight, hand-deliver and get written acknowledgment of receipt.
A Quick Checklist for the Count
- Confirm the effective date printed on the fully executed contract.
- Mark that date as Day Zero on a calendar.
- Count forward one calendar day at a time, including weekends and holidays, until you reach the number of days written in Paragraph 5.
- Write down the exact date and note that 5:00 p.m. local time to the property is the cutoff.
- Separately, count three days from the effective date for the option fee delivery deadline and confirm the escrow agent has received it in time.
- If more time is needed, get an Amendment to Contract signed by both parties before the deadline arrives.
The count itself is simple once the Day Zero rule is clear. What trips buyers up is treating the effective date as Day 1, assuming a weekend deadline moves, or waiting until the final afternoon to send notice. Mark the calendar the day the contract is executed, and the rest of the option period is bookkeeping.