Why seller credits matter more than price

Why seller credits matter more than price

Lender · Tampa/Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2014 · 356 posts · 148 votes

Hi all, something I've been seeing repeatedly in today's market is many buyers who are financing are focused on the wrong number.

They're negotiating aggressively on purchase price while completely ignoring the offer/ financing structure.

For example, a seller willing to give $10,000 in concessions may create significantly more value than a $10,000 price reduction depending on the loan program and buyer's goals.

I recently worked with a house hack buyer who actually increased the sales price, negotiated 6% seller concessions, and used those credits to cover closing costs and a huge buy down on the interest rate.

This resulted in less cash out of pocket and a much lower monthly payment.

Seller concessions can potentially be used for: closing costs, interest rate buy downs, preserving liquidity. 

For investors especially, keeping cash available or creating higher cash flow often creates more long nterm value than squeezing every last dollar out of the purchase price.

Curious what other investors and agents are seeing right now:

If a seller gave you an extra $10,000, would you rather use it for:

1. Price reduction
2. Closing costs
3. Rate buydown
4. Something else

    0Reply
    77 views

    Most Popular Reply

    Aaron ZimmermanBusiness Member
    Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3mo

    Agreed. To me, I prefer to put less cash out of pocket. If I knew we'd stay there a while, I'd consider buying down the rate. 

    See this reply in the discussion

    4 Replies

    Jump to latestLatest
    • Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
      3mo

      Closing costs or rate buy down is the way. Most buyers I help lean towards closing costs since it's less out of pocket 

    • Lender · Tampa/Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2014 · 356 posts · 148 votes
      3mo

      @Caleb Brown Agreed! I see a lot of client's lean into closing costs and then any left over toward rate buy down mainly. I also have found it to be buyer specific meaning my investors a lot of time are liking the rate buy down whereas my first time home buyer type clientele is leaning more into the closing costs. Do you work mainly with investors? Are you seeing something similar?

    • Aaron ZimmermanBusiness Member
      Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
      3mo

      Agreed. To me, I prefer to put less cash out of pocket. If I knew we'd stay there a while, I'd consider buying down the rate. 

    • Stacy RaskinBusiness Member
      Lender · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 496 votes
      3mo

      If financing, seller concessions are a great way to buy down the rate and increase cash flow on the property. 

    Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.