Most land contracts give the buyer a window to investigate the property and walk away if it does not work. Contracts call it different things: a feasibility period, an inspection period, a due diligence period, a termination option. The names vary. The logic does not. It is the one stretch of the deal where finding a problem costs you a report fee instead of the land.
That makes it the most valuable time in a development project, and it is routinely wasted. The clock starts, the buyer orders everything at once, and half the window goes to waiting on reports that answer questions a free desk check could have answered on day one.
This is how we sequence it on a Central Texas parcel. It pairs with 7 Things to Consider Before Your Next Texas Development Project, which covers what to look for. This piece covers when, and in what order.
Before You Sign: Negotiate the Window You Actually Need
The feasibility period is set in the contract, so the first piece of diligence happens before there is a contract.
Know what starts the clock. Some contracts run the period from the effective date. Others tie it to the seller delivering documents. Know which one you signed, and write the deadline down, including the time of day if the contract names one.
Size it to your slowest report. Ask your surveyor, environmental consultant and geotechnical engineer for their current lead times before you agree to a length. Those schedules move, and a window that was comfortable last year can be tight this year.
Ask for extension rights. An option to extend, even for an added deposit, is cheaper to negotiate at the start than in the final week.
List the seller deliverables. Existing surveys, environmental reports, title policies, utility agreements, leases, and anything the seller has received from a city, county or district. Put a delivery deadline on them.
Get the right to enter and test. Soil borings and environmental work need access. Make sure the contract gives it and says who restores the site.
Week One: The Desk Screen
These checks cost little or nothing, and any one of them can end the deal. Do all of them before spending real money.
Jurisdiction
Confirm whether the parcel is inside city limits, in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, or in unincorporated county. It decides who reviews your plans and which rules apply. Texas counties generally do not have the broad zoning powers cities have, so land outside city limits is governed by a different set of controls, not by no controls.
Floodplain
Pull the effective flood map from FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which FEMA describes as the official public source for flood hazard information under the National Flood Insurance Program. Then check the local jurisdiction's own floodplain rules and any newer local mapping, because local requirements can be stricter than the federal map.
Aquifer rules
Parts of the Austin area fall within regulated Edwards Aquifer zones. The TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, governed by 30 TAC Chapter 213, regulates activities in the recharge, transition and contributing zones across eight counties, including Travis, Williamson and Hays. As of September 2026, TCEQ's page says a plan must be reviewed and approved by the program before building in those zones. If your parcel is in one, the approval belongs on your schedule from the start.
Who serves water and wastewater
Find out which provider holds the service area. The Public Utility Commission of Texas publishes a Water and Sewer CCN Viewer for this. Knowing the name of the provider is the start of the question, not the end of it. Whether that provider has capacity for your project is a separate question, and in this region it is often the harder one. We wrote about why in The Binding Constraint in Central Texas Is Wastewater, Not Water.
Title
Order the title commitment on day one. Read Schedule B, the exceptions, as soon as it arrives. Easements, restrictive covenants, access issues and old agreements show up there, and some of them decide what can be built before any engineer weighs in.
Weeks Two and Beyond: The Paid Reports
Once the desk screen comes back clean, commit the budget.
Survey. Commercial and development buyers commonly order an ALTA/NSPS land title survey. Have the surveyor plot the recorded easements from the title commitment so you can see where they actually fall on the land.
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. EPA's All Appropriate Inquiries rule ties certain federal landowner liability protections under CERCLA to doing this inquiry before you acquire the property. EPA recognizes ASTM E1527-21 as consistent with the rule. Order it early, because a finding that calls for a Phase II will not fit in the last week.
Geotechnical. Soil conditions vary a great deal across Central Texas, and they drive foundation design and cost. A preliminary geotechnical report turns a line item you guessed at into one you can underwrite.
Environmental and habitat review. Ask your environmental consultant whether wetlands, protected species habitat or other natural resource issues warrant a closer look on this particular site.
Utility capacity. Ask the provider, in writing, what it would take to serve your project and on what timeline. A verbal "should be fine" is not a finding.
Entitlement read. Confirm the current zoning and what can be built by right, and identify every discretionary approval the plan would need. If a land use attorney is part of your team, this is when they earn their fee.
The Final Week: Decide on Paper
Do not let the deadline make the decision for you. A few days before it, write a one-page memo with three possible outcomes.
- Go. Every material question has an answer you can underwrite.
- Renegotiate. You found something real but manageable. Price, terms, an extension or a seller cure are all on the table while you still hold the right to walk. That advantage ends with the period.
- Walk. Send the termination notice exactly the way the contract requires, in writing, to the right parties, before the deadline. Confirm it was received.
The worst outcome is none of these: the period lapses while a report is still out, and you move forward on a site you have not finished understanding.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a feasibility period be?
Long enough for the slowest item on your list, plus time to act on what it tells you. There is no standard length that fits every site. Get current lead times from your consultants before you agree to one.
Is the earnest money refundable if I terminate during the feasibility period?
That depends entirely on your contract. Many contracts treat some portion of the deposit differently from the rest. Read the termination and deposit language with your attorney before you sign.
What is the most common mistake?
Ordering everything at once and reading nothing until it all arrives. Do the free checks first and read each result the day it lands.
Working a Site With Us
Feasibility and underwriting are part of how we take a project from raw land to delivery, and you can see the full sequence on our projects page. If you are under contract on a Central Texas parcel, or about to be, and want a second read before your window closes, get in touch.
This post is general information about land due diligence in Texas. It is not legal, engineering, environmental or investment advice, and it is not a representation about any specific parcel. Agency rules, programs and tools change. Verify every requirement against the issuing agency and your own contract before relying on it.