What To Expect In A Lee County Land Contract
May 21, 2026
May 21, 2026
Buying or selling rural land in Lee County can feel simple at first glance. Then the contract shows up, and suddenly you are looking at deadlines, surveys, title documents, lease terms, and questions about water or acreage. The good news is that a Lee County land contract follows a clear structure, and once you know what to expect, the process becomes much easier to navigate. Let’s dive in.
In everyday Texas real estate practice, a “land contract” usually means the signed purchase agreement for the property. It does not usually mean a contract for deed. That distinction matters because the standard Texas forms used in brokerage are not intended to be used as a contract for deed.
For many rural properties in Lee County, the contract form often used is the TREC Farm and Ranch Contract. This form is generally designed for existing farms or ranches with a metes-and-bounds legal description from a survey. If the property is vacant land with no buildings or fixtures and uses a lot-and-block legal description, the Unimproved Property Contract may be used instead.
That means the right form depends on the land itself, not just the fact that it is “country property.” In Lee County, where many transactions involve acreage, boundaries, and rural improvements, getting that starting point right is important.
Once the contract becomes effective, the first few days matter a lot. Under the Farm and Ranch Contract, the buyer must deliver the earnest money and the option fee to the escrow agent within 3 days after the effective date.
If that deadline lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day. Still, these are strict deadlines. The contract states that time is of the essence for this section, which means missing the deadline can create real problems.
If earnest money is not delivered on time, the seller may have the right to terminate or pursue other remedies under the contract. That is one reason buyers need to be ready to move quickly once a deal is signed.
One of the biggest misunderstandings in Texas real estate is the option period. There is no automatic 3-day or 72-hour cooling-off period in Texas. Instead, the option period is a negotiated part of the contract.
If you pay the agreed option fee on time, you get the unrestricted right to terminate during the negotiated option period. If you terminate within that period and deliver notice on time, the option fee is usually not refunded, but the earnest money is refunded.
If the option fee is not paid on time, you lose that unrestricted termination right. For rural property in Lee County, that can be a big deal because the option period is often when you are sorting through inspections, access questions, title review, survey issues, and property usability.
After the title company receives the contract, the seller must furnish the title commitment within 20 days. If the commitment and exception documents are delayed, the deadline can be extended automatically up to 15 days or until 3 days before closing, whichever comes first.
The title commitment tells you what the title company is willing to insure and what exceptions may affect the property. For rural land, this can be especially important because access easements, lease rights, reservations, and other recorded matters can affect how you use the tract.
The buyer has the right to object to title defects, certain survey issues, or a special flood hazard area shown on the FEMA map. The objection deadline is the earlier of closing or the negotiated number of days after receiving the title commitment, exception documents, and survey.
If the seller can cure the objection, the contract provides a 15-day cure period. After that, the buyer typically has a short window to either waive the objection or terminate.
In Lee County, surveys are often one of the most important parts of the deal. The Farm and Ranch Contract allows several different survey paths, depending on what the parties negotiate.
A transaction might use:
If the seller is supposed to provide an existing survey and the required affidavit or declaration, but does not deliver them on time, a new survey may be needed. The same can happen if the title company or lender rejects the existing survey package.
This is one reason rural land buyers should not assume old paperwork will carry the deal. A survey needs to be acceptable to the title company and the lender, and it must be prepared by a registered professional land surveyor.
On rural property, acreage is not just a detail. It can affect value, financing, and whether the property still makes sense for your plans.
The Farm and Ranch Contract allows the sales price to be adjusted based on the survey. If the acreage variance is more than 10%, either party may have the right to terminate within the deadline stated in the contract.
That is a big reason buyers and sellers should pay attention to how acreage is described from the start. A tract that looks straightforward in a listing may still need careful confirmation before closing.
If the purchase is financed, the Third Party Financing Addendum becomes part of the process. Under that addendum, the buyer must apply promptly and make every reasonable effort to obtain approval.
The addendum separates buyer approval from property approval. In other words, it is not only about whether you qualify for the loan. It can also depend on issues such as appraisal, insurability, and lender-required repairs.
If financing falls through, the buyer usually cannot just walk away without following the addendum’s notice rules and deadlines. That makes timing and communication especially important.
With Lee County land, the contract is often about more than surface dirt and a sales price. Rural tracts may involve reservations of oil, gas, minerals, water, timber, or other interests. They can also involve natural resource leases or surface leases for grazing, hunting, agriculture, recreation, wind, solar, timber, or forestry.
If lease documents have not already been delivered, the Farm and Ranch Contract requires delivery within 3 days after the effective date. The buyer may also have a negotiated right to terminate after receiving and reviewing them.
This is where practical land guidance matters. You want to understand not only what is being sold, but also what may be reserved, leased, or limited. And with TREC’s updated language pointing buyers toward groundwater and surface-water rights information, water access and water rights should be reviewed early rather than assumed.
The contract includes several notices and disclosure-related items that can shape the transaction. These can involve utility districts, annexation, certificated water or sewer service areas, public improvement districts, flood-related issues, and other statutory notices.
These items are not always deal breakers, but they can trigger deadlines and buyer remedies if they are not properly delivered. On a rural property, this paperwork is part of understanding what you are actually buying and what obligations may come with it.
If the tract includes a residence and the seller’s disclosure notice under Texas Property Code Section 5.008 applies, the buyer may terminate before closing if that notice is not delivered. If it is delivered later, the buyer may have 7 days after receipt to terminate.
The contract also gives the buyer access for inspections at reasonable times. It states that existing utilities should remain on during the contract period.
At closing, deeds and plats in Lee County are recorded with the Lee County Clerk in Giddings. The office is located at 843 East Industry, Giddings, Texas 78942, and public hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The county’s fee schedule lists recording fees of $26 for the first page and $4 for each additional page. Fees are due when the document is presented for recording.
If your transaction involves a split tract or a newly created lot, county subdivision rules can affect the timeline. Lee County requires preliminary plat approval, final plat approval, and then filing of the record plat with the County Clerk.
That means a property division is not always a quick side step. If land is being newly divided, extra county steps may add time before the transaction is fully ready to close.
The Farm and Ranch Contract provides for tax proration at closing. If taxes are unpaid at or before closing, the buyer pays the current year’s taxes.
In most deals, that means tax proration will appear on the settlement statement rather than being negotiated from scratch. It is a standard closing item, but it still helps to know it is coming.
For buyers looking at agricultural land, ag valuation is a separate due-diligence issue. According to the Lee Central Appraisal District, land must be currently devoted principally to agricultural use, meet local intensity standards, and generally show five of the previous seven years of qualifying use.
Just being rural does not automatically qualify land for agricultural valuation. The district also notes that only acreage actually used agriculturally may qualify, and hobby or casual use is not enough.
In a Lee County land contract, the biggest theme is not just price. It is process. Rural land deals often move through a chain of deadlines tied to earnest money, option fee, title review, survey review, financing, lease documents, and closing logistics.
For buyers, that means you should expect to make decisions quickly once information starts coming in. For sellers, it means strong preparation can help reduce delays and keep a transaction on track.
Most of all, you should expect details to matter. On Lee County land, questions about access, acreage, surveys, leases, water, and recorded documents can shape the transaction as much as the property itself.
If you are buying or selling land in Lee County, having clear guidance from the beginning can make a real difference. Caitlin Jacob helps clients across South Central Texas understand rural property details, stay ahead of deadlines, and move through the process with confidence.
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