Salt Lake City New Homebuyers Blog

Garbett Seller Buy Down – How You Can Take Advantage of It

Written by Garbett Homes | Jan 12, 2024 5:02:02 PM

We at Garbett Homes know that the Utah housing market has been wild the past few years. After all, we live here too. Which is why we want to do what we can to help you cross that finish line and get into the home of your dreams. Today we wanted to help you get to know a little bit more about one of the best ways we can help you. The limited time opportunity to enjoy a seller buy-down when you work with our preferred lender.

What Are Seller Buy Downs?
Pop quiz! What was one of the major contributing factors to the homebuying rush that occurred from 2020 – Mid 2022? If you said low interest rates you were correct. Low interest rates meant that qualified homebuyers could buy the home that they were already going to buy for a lower monthly payment. Saving them hundreds, if not thousands over the time that they will own the home. Just because the interest rate was lower. A seller buy down, more commonly known as a rate buy down, offers a similar savings opportunity to qualified buyers. In these scenarios, the seller will work with their preferred lender to buy down your interest rate. They do this by paying the lender a certain amount of money to lower the interest rate percentage on the loan. Usually on a temporary basis as permanent rate buydowns are prohibitively expensive. (Everyone who helped build and sell the house needs to get paid after all.) But even a temporary rate buy down can save you a significant amount of money while it is in effect. And might even help make re-financing easier down the line if interest rates go lower.

How Can You Take Advantage of a Seller’s Buydown?

First and foremost, you will need to qualify for the loan at the higher loan amount in most scenarios. There’s no interest rate to buy down if you can’t qualify for the loan at all. So save yourself some heartbreak and try to get pre-approved for a loan. Savvy shopping is the name of the game when it comes to buying a house after all.
After you’re pre-approved and you qualify for the loan, you will need to keep in mind that for most builders in the state of Utah, seller buy downs are only being offered on select homes. Usually these are quick move-in homes. While that does mean you won’t be building from a dirt lot. You will be able to move into your new home as soon as the closing process is complete. Starting the next chapter of your life in record time.

What Else Should I Know?
It’s always best that you speak to one of our Sales Associates at our model homes to have the most up to date information on the seller buy downs we currently offer. If we are offering them at all. With the market heating up again thanks to stabilizing interest rates seller buy downs might not be around forever. You also should keep in mind that these seller buy downs are typically tied to the home builder’s preferred lender. We are no exception to this matter.

If you’re ready to buy a home and are interested in taking advantage of the opportunity a seller buy down could offer you, we’d love to help out! You can learn more about what homes currently qualify for a seller buy down by visiting one of our model homes and speaking to a sales associate today! 801 396 9800 & Janie@garbetthomes.com