Seller credit to bring less to the table

[Lipa F.]

In my last two deals, I asked sellers for bigger credits to cover closing costs instead of negotiating a lower purchase price — trying to bring less cash to the table. But both times, the hard money lender still calculated the LTV based on purchase price minus credits, even though the appraisal came in much higher.

Example: $260k purchase price, $10k credit → lender used $250k for LTV.

I'm curious — how do other investors handle this? Is it standard for lenders to do this, or are there ways to structure credits so they don't impact LTV as much? Would love to hear what's worked for you!