@Neil Da SilvaThere are two pieces to the puzzle (not to mention income).1.  

If they do, why not hang on to 'em for while?

Or is that something that you just uncover during the option period and take the EM loss?

Obviously, now you see the reason that no one besides a 3rd party such as an Attorney or Title Company should hold the earnest money in TexasSince we are not privy to your contract, I will just suggest the process for attempting to get back your em. 

Depending on what's your preffered platform/required features I would suggest you to try out LandlordMAX for desktop, Landlordy or Housters as mobile apps and Pendo or TrueRent on the web.

Go get 'em!

Right now, I work for myself as a web developer, but would love to "retire" to short term rentals or something passive like that some day.

Hook' Em ;)

I wish I knew to study this web site and the landlord tenant laws before I started.Learning this business on the fly is a recipe for disaster.

It sounds like you let him tie it up for the full 90 days, instead of having a 2-3 week inspection period, after which he would lose his likely minimal EM deposit.