What Are Seller Concessions?

When buying a house, you pay closing costs and fees to cover the costs of getting the mortgage. Closing costs usually range from around 3% – 6% of the home price.

In some cases, you may be able to get the seller to pay for some of these closing costs. These are called seller concessions, and they can be a powerful way to save on your closing costs. Before you close on your mortgage, learn how to use seller concessions to your advantage.

Seller Concessions In Real Estate, Defined

Seller concessions are closing costs that the seller has agreed to pay. Sometimes, you can ask the seller to contribute to specific closing costs. Other times, sellers may simply pay a percentage of the total closing costs.

An Example of Seller Concessions

Imagine a home buyer is looking to purchase a house that costs $400,000. During the negotiation process, the seller agrees to offer concessions amounting to 5%. This means the seller will contribute 5% of $400,000 — which is $20,000 — toward the buyer's closing costs and related expenses.

What Closing Costs Do Seller Concessions Cover?

The seller may be able to cover part or all of these closing costs:

• Property taxes: Prepaid property taxes through the end of the year at closing.
• Title insurance: Title insurance protects you and your lender if someone comes forth with a claim for the home’s title.
• Loan origination fees: These origination fees cover your lender’s charges for processing your loan.
• Inspection fees: Inspection fees cover the cost of inspections required for the loan. For example, in some states and on some loans, a pest inspector must evaluate your property before a sale can go through.
• Recording fees: Recording fees cover the expense of documenting your home’s purchase with your local government.
• Appraisal fee: This covers the cost of getting a licensed third-party appraisal of the home to determine the market value.
• Attorney’s fees: In some states, you need an attorney to review closing documents. Attorney’s fees cover the cost of a real estate attorney.
• Points: Mortgage points (also known as discount points) are upfront interest you pay to reduce your interest rate.

Once you apply for your loan, your lender will give you a Loan Estimate, which shows all your estimated closing costs. You can then work with your real estate agent to decide which ones to ask the seller to pay for.

Who Benefits From Seller Concessions?

Seller concessions can help both the buyer and the seller. For the seller, offering concessions can make their home more attractive to potential buyers, especially in a buyer’s market.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Seller Concessions

For buyers, there are both pros and cons to asking for seller concessions. Before you make your decision one way or the other, it’s important to make sure you fully understand what it is you’re asking and what it could cost you.

Advantages

Seller concessions allow you to pay less at closing to make buying a home more affordable. As a buyer, you’ll usually have to bring at least a few thousand dollars to the table for closing costs and your down payment. Seller concessions can cut these costs significantly, so you don’t have to completely empty your savings to buy a home.

Agreeing to concessions can be good for the seller in some circumstances. For example, they can help the seller get their home off the market faster. If the seller is eager to sell their home, they may be willing to pay part of the buyer’s closing costs to speed up the process.

Disadvantages

On the flip side, asking for seller concessions might make you a less-appealing buyer. Most sellers are looking for offers that don’t have a lot of strings attached, especially in a seller’s market.

If a home has multiple bids, the seller will probably disregard offers that include concession requests. In this instance, it may be better to put in a lower offer for the home and cover the closing costs yourself. This option is easier for the seller and may increase the chance your offer will get accepted.

How To Negotiate Seller Concessions

You know that you want to ask for concessions, but how do you convince the seller to help you pay? Asking for concessions is all about negotiating and understanding the current housing market.

1. Know The Market You’re In

First, you’ll need to figure out whether you’re in a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. This will heavily influence your ability to negotiate for concessions. Sellers are much more motivated to offer concessions when their home has been sitting on the market for a while, or when it’s a buyer’s market.

2. Limit Your Demands

If you decide to ask for concessions, limit your other demands. Sellers like to take the offer that’s the least complicated for them. If you ask for concessions as well as repairs, replacements and services, the seller is more likely to pass on your offer. If repairs are an absolute must for you, consider offering a lower price and covering closing costs yourself. 

3. Work With A Real Estate Agent

If you know you want to ask for concessions, we recommend working with a real estate agent. Your real estate agent can help you: 

• Research local sales and inform you about your area’s housing market
• Decide whether to ask for closing costs or make a lower offer if you’re in a seller’s market
• Find similar properties that were recently sold with concessions to show to the seller 

Presenting examples of recent seller concessions can motivate your seller to work with you on closing costs.

Are There Limits To Seller Concessions?

Your seller can’t pay all of your closing costs. How much your seller can pay depends on the type of loan you’re getting and a few other factors.

Keep in mind that the total amount the seller contributes can’t exceed your total closing costs. For example, let’s say you buy a home worth $200,000 with a conventional loan and a 20% down payment, and you end up with a $160,000 mortgage. Using the average closing costs of 6%, the seller could legally contribute $9,600. But if your closing costs for this mortgage are only $5,000, the seller can’t give you more than $5,000 in seller concessions.

Why Are There Limits To Seller Concessions?

What’s the point of setting limits on seller concessions? Mortgage rule-makers like Fannie Mae and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) set limits on seller concessions to discourage inflation in the housing market.

For example, let’s say you want to buy a home worth $150,000. The seller offers to sell you the home for $175,000. They offer you $25,000 for closing costs and tell you to keep anything left over.

Even though this might be a good deal for you, it will cause local housing prices to rise. When other sellers and agents see what the home sold for, the prices of other homes will go up to match the inflated market value.

This cycle can quickly cause home and rent prices to rise to unsustainable levels. To avoid this, sellers are only allowed to contribute a small percentage of their home's value to closing costs.

Seller Concession Limits By Loan Type

The restrictions on seller concessions vary by loan type. The lesser of the sale price or the appraised value usually dictates how much your seller can pay in concessions.

For example, say you offer $155,000 for a home. The home appraises for $150,000. If the seller concessions max out at 3%, the seller can contribute up to 3% of $150,000, or $4,500, to help with closing costs.

Here are the seller concession limits for some common loans.

Conventional Loans

The limit for conventional loans depends on how much you’re putting down:

• If your down payment is less than 10%, the seller can contribute up to 3%.
• If your down payment is 10% – 25%, the seller can contribute up to 6%.
• If your down payment is more than 25%, the seller can contribute up to 9%.
• If you’re buying an investment property, the seller’s contribution is limited to 2%, no matter what your down payment is.

FHA Loans

For all Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, the seller can contribute up to 6% of the purchase price. Concessions on FHA loans can be put towards closing costs, appraisal fees and other expenses related to this real estate purchase.

USDA Loans

For U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans, the seller can contribute up to 6% of the buyer’s loan amount. This is the one loan type where the seller concessions are not based on the home price or appraised value. Rocket Mortgage^® does not offer USDA loans at this time.

VA Loans

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loan rules dictate that the seller can contribute up to 4% of the purchase price. Seller concessions on VA loans may include payments toward a buyer’s judgments and debts, as well as VA funding fees.

Seller Concession FAQs

Now let’s go over some of the most frequently asked questions regarding seller concessions.

Can sellers refuse to contribute toward my closing costs?

Sellers do not have to contribute to your closing costs. Any seller concessions must be negotiated into your contract.

Are seller concessions paid out of pocket?

Seller concessions come out of the seller’s profit for the sale, so they are not directly paid by the seller out of pocket.

Are seller concessions taxable?

Seller concessions are considered to be sales expenses and are therefore tax deductible.

Is it better to ask for seller concessions or a lower sales price?

It depends on your situation. If you are looking to have closing costs that are as low as possible, then seller concessions are the best option for you.

How do seller concessions differ for investment properties versus primary residences?

Seller concessions are a great way to reduce the amount of cash you need to bring to the closing table, but unfortunately they have a limit. On a conventional loan used to purchase your primary residence, seller concessions cannot be more than 6% of the sales price. This is assuming your down payment is between 10% and 25%. For investment properties, seller concessions can never be more than 2%.

Can seller concessions cover down payment costs?

Seller concessions can be used toward the costs and fees associated with closing, but they cannot be used toward your down payment on your mortgage. They can help with your down payment indirectly though, as they free up cash you would have needed for closing costs that can then be used for your down payment.

Do seller concessions impact my taxes?

In most cases, seller concessions won’t have a huge impact on your taxes as the buyer. For the seller, they may have some capital improvement tax considerations if they pay for repairs or upgrades as part of their concessions. It’s always a good idea to consult with a tax professional before proceeding with seller concessions.

The Bottom Line: Reduce Your Closing Costs With Sellers Concessions

Seller concessions are closing costs the seller agrees to pay. They can make a home more affordable for the buyer, and they can help the seller close the deal. 

Work with your real estate agent to decide whether you have a good opportunity to ask the seller for concessions. If the market is right, you may be able to ask the seller to pay for part or all of your closing costs. You just have to make sure what you’re asking for is within the limits dictated by the type of loan you’re getting. 

Before you can think about seller concessions, you need to find a property and have your offer accepted. If you’re ready to find your new home and you need financing, start the approval process today with Rocket Mortgage.