Closing Costs and Financing Incentives

There may be times when you may request that the seller to pay all or a portion of your closing costs or perhaps provide some other financial incentive (for example - holding a portion of the note, owner financing, etc..) Commonly requested is to  ask the seller to provide funds to temporarily buy down your interest rate for the first year or two. Such incentives can be especially effective if a buyer is tight on money or pushing their qualifying ratios to the limit to purchase the home.

Whenever asking for these incentives, you will generally find that the seller will be less willing to negotiate on the selling price. After all, what you are really asking for is to have the seller personally loan you some money to help you in purchasing their house.