For loan officers and their listing agents

The listing has been sitting. Show the seller a better move than a price cut.

Enter the listing, the price reduction on the table, and the same dollars as a seller-paid rate buydown. Get a branded, shareable comparison the agent can hand to the seller in minutes.

Create your accountSee a sample agent page
Example: $650,000 listing, $15,000 to work with
Two ways your seller can spend the same $15,000
$660 less per month for the buyer

Reduce the price by $15,000, and the buyer’s payment drops $78 a month. Use that same $15,000 to lower the buyer’s interest rate instead, and the payment drops $660 a month in the first year. That’s about 8 times more.

To give the buyer that same $660 a month with a price reduction alone, the seller would have to cut the price by about $127,000.

Over the first 2 years, the buyer keeps $11,979 with the lower rate, compared with $1,868 from the price cut.

As listed today
Current price, current rate
Buyer pays each month
$3,373
Where the listing stands today
Home price
$650,000
Buyer’s loan
$520,000
Interest rate
6.75%
What it costs the seller
Nothing
Reduce the price
Take $15,000 off the list price
Buyer pays each month
$3,295
$78 less than as listed
Home price
$635,000
Buyer’s loan
$508,000
Interest rate
6.75%
What it costs the seller
$15,000
Buyer saves over the first 2 years
$1,868
Rate buydown
Seller puts $15,000 toward the buyer's interest rate
Buyer pays each month (year 1)
$2,713
$660 less than as listed
Home price
$650,000
Buyer’s loan
$520,000
Interest rate (year 1)
4.75%
What it costs the seller
$11,979
Buyer saves over the first 2 years
$11,979
How the buydown works, year by year
Year 1
4.75%
$2,713/mo
$660 less
Year 2
5.75%
$3,035/mo
$338 less
Years 3–30
6.75%
$3,373/mo
Full payment

This costs the seller $11,979. The remaining $3,021 can go toward the buyer's closing costs.

Every dollar the seller puts in goes straight to the buyer’s payment; nothing is lost to the lender. If the buyer sells or refinances early, whatever is left in the buydown account goes toward their loan balance.

Why this matters
  • Buyers shop by the monthly payment, not the price tag.
  • A price reduction barely moves the payment. A lower rate moves it a lot.
  • Both cost your seller about the same. One gives buyers a much bigger reason to write on this listing.
  • Buyer agents can show their clients a payment they can afford today. That means more showings and offers that hold together.
  • It gives you something new to say to your seller besides “we need to lower the price.”
  • The buyer still qualifies at the full note rate, so this does not stretch anyone into a loan they can’t afford.