Don't Back Down… Buydown.

When the payment goes down, the conversations open up. And in this market, the payment is almost always the real problem.

Here's what I see every week: buyers find a home they can afford on paper, run the monthly number, and still walk away saying, "I just don't like that payment." Meanwhile, sellers are getting told the only fix is to cut the price.

But if the payment is the problem, why would you throw every negotiating dollar at the price? There's a smarter place to put them.

What a seller-paid temporary buydown actually is

A temporary buydown lets the buyer make payments as if their interest rate were lower for the first year or two of the loan. The difference gets covered by a pool of money set aside at closing — and when the seller funds it, that money comes out of an eligible seller concession.

Here's the part most sellers miss: nobody writes a check upfront. The concession is simply deducted from the seller's proceeds at closing, handled right there on the settlement statement, subject to loan program limits and there being sufficient proceeds to cover it.

For the buyer: breathing room when it counts

The first couple of years in a new home are the expensive ones. Moving costs, furniture, repairs, the stuff that breaks in month two — it all lands at once, on top of a brand-new mortgage payment.

A temporary buydown eases the payment down for exactly that stretch. Not forever, and it's not a gimmick — it's real breathing room in the years when your monthly budget is under the most pressure.

For the seller: make the same dollars work harder

Say you're already thinking about giving up $10,000 through a price reduction just to get buyers through the door. Run the comparison before you do:

Price cut: you give up $10,000 of price — and the buyer's monthly payment barely moves, because $10,000 off the price only trims a small amount off a 30-year payment.

Buydown concession: that same $10,000, taken from your proceeds at closing, can fund a temporary buydown — and the buyer's early payments drop by hundreds a month, which is the number buyers actually feel.

You're not handing the buyer a check. You're not coming up with cash beforehand. You're using part of your proceeds differently — attracting more buyers, and usually preserving more of your sales price in the process.

Same dollars. Smarter strategy.

*The information here is provided as a general guide to help you determine if a property may be viable for you. Rates, APRs & programs are illustrations subject to change at any time. These do not constitute a Loan or Good Faith Estimate for payments and closing costs. Rates provided 9/25/2026. Payment example: If you bought a $600,000 home with a 10% down payment, for a loan amount of $540,000, with a 30 year term at a fixed rate of 7.250% (Annual Percentage Rate 7.707%), with a 2/1 temporary buydown, you would make 12 monthly payments of $2,982, 12 monthly payments of $3,325, & 336 monthly payments of $3,684. Payment stated does not include mortgage insurance, taxes, and homeowners insurance, which will result in a higher payment.

Every situation is different — the concession has to fit the loan program's limits and the seller's proceeds. But when it fits, it's one of the strongest negotiating tools in a market like this one, for both sides of the table.

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