After home inspection, can I back out without losing earnest $

[Jason Bilbrey]

I'm in an area with lots of competition and most places seem to get an offer before I can even view them. I'm wondering if I were to crunch the numbers and find a viable place, if I can make an offer to lock in the place, and then what "loopholes" I have if later I decide the place isn't right to purchase.

For example, if my offer included a requirement for a home inspection, and that inspection comes back with 10 things noted by the inspector. Can I bail out and get all my earnest money back? What if the seller says they will fix _everything_? Can I still decline and just say that I want to back out anyway without penalty/risk of losing me earnest money?

What other protections can I put in my initial offer to protect my ability to back out?