A price cut isn't always the best deal
The same dollars from a seller can do more for your monthly payment as a credit toward buying down your rate than as a lower price. The calculator below shows both, side by side.
For home buyers
Higher rates?Lower the payment.
A seller can pay to buy down your rate, cover your closing costs, or cut the price — and some loans can be taken over at the seller's old rate. See what each does to your payment, then have Sarah ask for it in your offer.
No obligation · never sold
Sound familiar?
The price isn't the only thing you can negotiate.
If you don't ask, the answer is no
Seller credits and buydowns are negotiated in the offer. Sarah writes the ask in a way your lender can use — and knows which option fits which home.
Price cut vs. buydown
Same dollars. Different payment.
Monthly principal and interest
Enter a price
Principal and interest only, on the numbers you entered; taxes, insurance, HOA and any mortgage insurance add to it. Not a loan offer. Whether your loan allows a buydown, and how much a seller may contribute, depends on the loan program — a licensed lender confirms both. Nothing you type here is saved; if you send your details, this summary goes to Sarah with them.
Have Sarah ask for it in your offerHow it works
See your options. Ask for them.
- 01
Tell Val what you're working with
Where you're looking and what you've heard from a lender. Val explains buydowns, credits and down payment help in plain English.
- 02
Compare the options
A price cut vs. a seller-paid buydown on your own numbers — the calculator shows what each does to the monthly payment.
- 03
Sarah writes it into your offer
The right ask for the home, and an introduction to lenders who can confirm what your loan allows.
Meet Val
Ask Val about lowering the payment. Answers in seconds.
- Works for Sarah. Only Sarah.What you share goes to Sarah and nobody else.
- Answers any hour.Nights, weekends, the middle of a move.
- Never quotes a rate.Rates, terms and approvals come only from a licensed lender. Val tells you what to ask one.
Val is an AI assistant. It never makes up a number, and says so when it doesn't know.
Questions
Straight answers.
What is a 2-1 buydown?
A temporary buydown. Money paid up front — often by the seller — lowers your rate for the first two years: two points below your note rate in year one, one point below in year two, then the full rate. Lenders generally qualify you at the full rate. Your lender confirms whether your loan allows it.
Should I wait for rates to drop?
Nobody can promise where rates go. Buy a payment you can carry at today's rate; a refinance later is a possibility, not a plan. Sarah can show you what's for sale now either way.
Is Sarah a lender?
No. Sarah works in real estate. Rates, terms, and whether a buydown, credit or program fits your loan come only from a licensed mortgage lender. Every loan type caps how much a seller can contribute; your lender will tell you yours.
Rates are rates. The deal is negotiable.
Want Sarah to find the savings? Two steps, ten seconds. It goes to Sarah and nobody else.