WORDS I LIKE — Good decisions name tradeoffs early.
Most buyers think a lower price is the better ask.
It feels safer — money off the top, right there in writing.
But a $10,000 price cut and a $10,000 rate buydown aren’t the same request.
One barely touches your payment.
The other can move it more than twice as far.
The Number That Actually Matters.
A rate buydown means the seller pays upfront to lower your interest rate — and your monthly payment. A price cut just lowers what you borrow.
Concessions are everywhere in Denver right now. A Q2 2026 analysis of REcolorado MLS data found 62.9% of closed sales included one. The median value: about $10,000. Buydowns are increasingly the ask.
Here’s the belief shift: most buyers assume the price cut is worth more. On a $500,000 loan at today’s 6.71% rate, a $10,000 price cut saves about $65 a month. A $10,000 buydown can save closer to $165.
That’s roughly two and a half times more relief, for the same seller dollars. Not every lender passes buydowns through cleanly — some bury the cost in overlays that eat the benefit.
The tradeoff comes down to what you value more right now. A lower price on paper, or a lower payment every month.
THIS WEEK'S TAKEAWAY
Before you ask for a price cut, ask what a buydown would actually do to your payment. The math might surprise you.
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PS
If you want to see this math run on your own loan, just reply “MATH.”
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— Neil Christiansen, Certified Mortgage Advisor
