The seller and Jasmine Mortgage Team both put money toward the buyer's rate — which lowers the monthly payment without lowering the price. Put in a price and see what it does.
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Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average as a starting point. Adjust to match a real quote — your actual rate depends on credit, loan size, and the day you lock.
Jasmine Mortgage Team$4,275
Seller contributes 1.26%$
$per month
Year-one rate
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Loan amount
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Buydown budget
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Payment after buydown
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at the full note rate
What this money buys — pick a structure
Structure
Year-one rate
Cost
Budget
Payment schedule
How this works — 90 seconds
Jasmine walks through what the contribution does to the payment, and why a seller would rather fund a buydown than cut the price.
Video embed goes here — paste the iframe for your buydown explainer. This is the same video your QR codes already point to.
How a temporary buydown works
The money sits in escrow and covers the gap. Nothing about the loan itself changes.
1
Money goes into escrow
A lump sum is set aside at closing — funded by the seller, the lender, or both. It is not added to the loan.
2
Payments start lower
For the first year or two the buyer pays as if the rate were lower. The escrow account covers the difference each month.
3
Full rate resumes
Once the escrow runs out, the payment steps up to the note rate for the rest of the loan. No surprise — it is on the schedule from day one.
Temporary buydowns follow agency guidelines for temporary interest rate buydowns. Availability and structure vary by loan program and occupancy.
For the listing agent
Settled on a structure? Take the same numbers straight into a flyer — no retyping.
Two different tools. The right one depends on how long the buyer plans to keep the loan.
Temporary buydown
Lowest payment early
Buys the biggest visible rate drop per dollar — this is how you get a headline number.
The payment steps back up on a published schedule.
The buyer still qualifies at the full note rate, so it lowers what they pay, not what they can borrow.
Unused escrow is generally credited if the loan pays off early.
Best when the buyer expects income to rise, or expects to refinance.
Permanent buydown
Lower rate for the life of the loan
Discount points cut the note rate itself, permanently.
Costs more per point of rate reduction than a temporary buydown.
It lowers the qualifying rate too — this is the one that widens who can actually buy the home.
Nothing to run out and nothing to step up.
Best when the buyer plans to hold the loan for years.
Permanent pricing moves daily and depends on the file, so this calculator models the temporary structures, where the cost is exact. Call for live permanent pricing — often the strongest answer is a split of both.
Questions
The ones that come up every time.
Who pays for the buydown?
Jasmine Mortgage Team contributes up to $4,500. The seller then negotiates their share on top. It can also be funded by a builder, or by the buyer. The seller's portion is agreed per property and written into the contract. It is not automatic and it is not a standing offer on every home.
Does this raise the price of the house?
Sometimes a seller lists slightly higher to fund their share, and sometimes they fund it out of the existing price. Either way the buyer sees the price and the credit in the contract. What a buydown avoids is a public price reduction, which is why sellers often prefer it.
Is a temporary buydown the same as buying points?
No. Discount points permanently reduce the note rate for the life of the loan. A temporary buydown leaves the note rate alone and subsidizes the payment for the first year or two from an escrow account. Points cost more; a temporary buydown buys a bigger visible drop for less money, but it does not last.
What rate do I qualify at?
The full note rate, not the reduced year-one rate. That is the part people get wrong. A temporary buydown lowers what you pay in the early years; it does not increase how much you can borrow. A permanent buydown does lower the qualifying rate.
What if I sell or refinance during the buydown?
Funds left in the buydown escrow are generally applied to the payoff, so the unused portion is not lost. The exact treatment is set by the buydown agreement on your specific loan — ask before you assume.
Which loans allow a temporary buydown?
Conventional, FHA and VA all permit temporary buydowns, subject to program rules and occupancy restrictions. Contribution limits differ by program and by how much you put down. We confirm what a specific file allows before anything goes into a contract.
Why would a seller pay for this instead of dropping the price?
A price cut moves the monthly payment surprisingly little. The same money aimed at the rate moves it a lot more — so the home reaches buyers who were shopping below the price. It also avoids a public reduction and the days-on-market story that follows one.
I'm the listing agent. Can I run this for my seller?
That is exactly what this is for. Put in the list price and the contribution you think the seller would consider, and it shows the payment story you can take to them. For the full picture — net proceeds, price-cut comparison, contribution limits — call and we will build it on the actual property.
Run it on a real property
Send an address and a price and we will model the financing scenario against a straight price reduction, so you and your seller can see both.
Estimates for illustration only. This is not a loan approval, a commitment to lend, an offer to extend credit, or a Loan Estimate. Payments shown are estimates built from the figures entered above and include principal, interest, estimated property taxes, estimated homeowners insurance, estimated mortgage insurance where applicable, and any HOA amount entered. They exclude items that vary by transaction. The market rate shown is the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey 30-year fixed average (FRED series MORTGAGE30US), published weekly and shown here as a starting assumption. It is a market average, not a quoted or locked rate, and it is not an offer of credit; actual interest rate and APR depend on credit score, loan amount, occupancy, property type, loan program, and market conditions at the time of lock, and are subject to change without notice. APR shown is estimated for comparison purposes. Temporary buydowns are subject to agency and program guidelines, occupancy restrictions, and interested-party contribution limits; seller contributions are negotiated per transaction, must be supported by appraised value, and cannot exceed eligible borrower costs. Lender contribution availability is subject to program terms and may change. Nothing here is tax or legal advice.
Jasmine Krnjetin · NMLS #116216 · Jasmine Mortgage Team, a division of Canopy Mortgage, LLC · 573 Dutch Valley Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324 · Branch NMLS #2408497 · NMLS Consumer Access #1359687 · Equal Housing Opportunity. All loans subject to credit and property approval.
