This October, Tri Pointe Homes is promoting a sample scenario for its North Texas communities. It assumes a $530,000 new home, 10% down and a 740 credit score. In that example the builder pays $19,225 in points and fees, which brings the buyer's 30-year fixed rate to 5.99%, or 6.765% APR. Principal and interest come to $2,857 a month, compared with $3,335 at the 7.500% "market rate" the builder uses for comparison. That's $478 a month in savings.
Now suppose a Denton homeowner puts the same $19,225 into a price cut on the same $530,000 house. With 10% down at 7.5%, the loan shrinks by about $17,300 and the monthly payment drops by about $121. The money is the same, but the buydown lowers the payment roughly four times as much as the price cut. Shoppers who visit a model home before your open house arrive with the builder's number in mind.
For a resale seller, the harder part is that matching a builder's buydown isn't simply a question of how much you're willing to spend. The buyer's loan program sets a cap on seller-paid financing help, and the buyer's down payment decides which cap applies.
What the builder's money buys, line by line
Tri Pointe's offer runs through Landmark, the Hillwood master-planned community at the northwest corner of Interstate 35W and Robson Ranch Road, where homes start in the high $300s. As of mid-October the terms were:
- up to $10,000 in closing credit on top of the rate buydown
- a move-in package valued at up to $5,477
- financing through the builder's affiliated lender, Tri Pointe Connect
- a list-price purchase of an eligible move-in-ready home
- a contract signed by October 31, 2026 and closing by December 18, 2026
Of those terms, the list-price requirement matters most to a resale seller. The builder holds its price and puts its money into the rate. Put the two approaches next to each other and the reason is clear.
| Same $19,225, two uses | Buyer's monthly P&I | Monthly change |
|---|---|---|
| No incentive, 7.5% on $477,000 | $3,335 | none |
| $19,225 price cut, 7.5%, 10% down | about $3,214 | about $121 lower |
| $19,225 rate buydown to 5.99% | $2,857 | $478 lower |
The first and third rows come from the builder's disclosure. The middle row is standard amortization math on the smaller loan. Payments exclude taxes, insurance and HOA dues, and the price cut would also trim the buyer's down payment by about $1,900. Even so, if the buyer's main worry is the monthly payment, the buydown gives them far more for each dollar.
The benchmark behind the savings figure
A savings claim depends on the rate it's measured against. Tri Pointe's 7.500% benchmark lines up with the Mortgage Bankers Association's average contract rate for 30-year conforming loans, which was 7.50% for the week ending October 9, 2026. Freddie Mac's survey ran slightly lower. Its Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year average at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026, compared with 6.27% a year earlier.
That year-over-year jump explains why builders are putting their money into the rate this fall. Rates are more than a full point higher than they were in October 2025, so the monthly payment is where buyers are feeling the squeeze. Each Thursday's Freddie Mac update can move the comparison a little. The basic gap holds either way, because a builder-funded rate near 6% sits well below any published average this month.
Why a resale seller can't simply write the same check
On a conventional loan, a seller can pay for a buydown. The trouble is that it counts against a cap. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide says that when an interested party pays for a temporary or permanent rate buydown, the cost of that subsidy must be included in the interested-party contribution calculation. For a principal residence, the limits depend on the loan-to-value ratio. They're measured against the lower of the sales price or the appraised value:
- LTV above 90%, meaning less than 10% down: 3%
- LTV from 75.01% to 90%: 6%
- LTV of 75% or less: 9%
Freddie Mac's Guide Section 5501.6 uses the same three tiers. Government-backed loans have their own limits. HUD Handbook 4000.1 caps interested-party contributions on FHA loans at 6% of the sales price, and that limit expressly includes permanent and temporary buydowns. The VA caps seller concessions at 4% of the home's reasonable value, and it treats ordinary seller-paid loan closing costs separately.
Here is how those caps play out at Denton County's September 2026 median single-family sale price of $420,990:
| Buyer's conventional down payment | Cap | Maximum seller contribution at $420,990 |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 10% | 3% | about $12,630 |
| 10% to 24.99% | 6% | about $25,260 |
| 25% or more | 9% | about $37,890 |
A buyer putting 5% down can't accept a $19,225 buydown on a median-priced Denton house from the seller. That cap is about $12,630. Typical fees and closing costs a seller pays according to local custom are excluded from Fannie Mae's limits, but the buydown itself counts in full. Fannie Mae adds a second limit. Financing concessions can't exceed the borrower's actual closing costs, and anything above the cap or above those costs is treated as a sales concession and deducted from the price for underwriting.
The same section of the Guide describes one tool that sits outside the caps. Standby or forward-commitment agreements, where a builder and a lender arrange blanket rate coverage before any sales contract is signed, are not subject to Fannie Mae's maximum financing concessions because they aren't tied to a specific loan. That kind of arrangement only works for a seller with many homes to sell. A homeowner selling one house negotiates one loan at a time, inside the cap set by that buyer's down payment.
What September's numbers say about room to negotiate
The September 2026 NTREIS summary, produced by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M, shows Denton County single-family homes with 1,050 sales, down 8% from a year earlier. The median price was $420,990, down 4%, with 67 days on market, a 93.7% sold-to-list ratio and 4.5 months of inventory. The ratio is a countywide figure, so it doesn't measure the discount on any single sale. As a rough illustration, though, a $420,990 sale at 93.7% of list implies a list price about $28,300 higher. That's more than the buydown in Tri Pointe's example, and the buyer receives it as a lower price, which does the least to lower the payment.
The city of Denton isn't following the county exactly. Community Impact reported that in September 2026 the city saw its median sales price and the number of homes on the market both rise compared with September 2025. More listings mean more competition among resale homes inside the city, at the same time new construction is competing on payment.
Builders are cutting prices at the entry level too. In October, D.R. Horton's Monarch at the Meadows, near US-380 and FM 156, listed homes from $279,990 and showed markdowns from $305,670 to $284,990, from $304,990 to $284,990, and from $284,990 to $279,990. The community's page also promoted a special interest rate on certain homes and a sales event that "ends November 1." These deadlines come and go every few weeks. The approach behind them has stayed the same. Builders hold or trim the price and put the real money into the payment.
Pricing a resale home around the buyer's loan
For a Denton seller, this changes the order of the negotiation. A resale offer that competes with new construction starts with the buyer's financing:
- Find out the buyer's loan type and down payment early. Together they set the 3%, 6%, 9%, FHA 6% or VA 4% limit on what you can contribute.
- Compare the buydown and the price cut in monthly dollars. Ask the buyer's lender to show the payment both ways, since the rate-sheet cost of points changes week to week.
- Leave the list price some room above the concession. Contributions are measured against the lower of the price or the appraised value, so a weak appraisal shrinks the cap as well.
- Line up the calendar. Tri Pointe's offer requires a contract by October 31, and D.R. Horton's sales event at Monarch at the Meadows ends November 1, so the competing offer a buyer is weighing may expire before your closing date.
These caps come from loan program rules, and how they apply depends on each buyer's loan and lender. This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm the details of a specific transaction with your lender or another qualified professional.
Questions sellers ask about matching a buydown
Does a temporary buydown avoid the cap?
No. Fannie Mae counts both temporary and permanent buydowns paid by an interested party, and HUD counts both on FHA loans.
What happens if the seller offers more than the cap allows?
Under Fannie Mae's rules, the excess becomes a sales concession that is deducted from the sales price, and the loan-to-value ratio is recalculated from that lower figure.
Is the builder's 7.5% comparison rate realistic?
It matches the MBA's 7.50% for the week ending October 9, 2026, and it's 0.10 point above Freddie Mac's 7.40% average for October 15, 2026.
Cassidy Calman is both a Broker Associate and a Senior Loan Officer, so when The CARE Team prices a Denton listing against new construction, we can work out the buydown math and the concession caps before an offer comes in. If you're getting ready to sell this fall and want to see your home's numbers next to the builder offers down the road, reach out to Cassidy Calman Gibson and we'll go through it with you. Contact Us.
