Buying · The trade nobody prices
Wait for the rate, or buy now and negotiate?
“I’ll wait for rates to come down” prices one side of a trade and ignores the other. Yes, the rate might be half a point worse than you want. It might also be the only market in years where you can take ten thousand off the price and ask the seller to cover your closing costs. Put both in and see which one actually wins.
No credit pull. No account. Nothing to sign.
1The house you’re looking at
2 What buying now costs you, and pays you
In a market with room to negotiate, the trade is usually this shape: you take a rate you like less, and you take a price and a credit the seller wouldn’t have given you a year ago. Change any of these — set them to zero if there’s nothing to negotiate where you’re looking.
Put in a price and a rate and the two columns appear.
What people ask next
Is a lower rate or a lower price worth more?
It depends on how long you keep the loan, and the tool shows you exactly where that line is. A lower price is smaller money every month but it also means a smaller loan on day one and a smaller balance for as long as you own the house. A lower rate is bigger money every month and nothing else. On a long enough horizon the rate usually wins; on a short one the price and the credit usually do. The crossover is the number worth knowing, and it is different on every house.
Can't I just refinance later if rates come down?
Sometimes people do, and it is worth planning for — but it is not something to count on. A refinance needs rates to actually fall, needs you to still qualify at that point, and costs money to do. Nobody can promise you any of the three. What a negotiated price does is permanent the day you sign: it is a smaller loan whether rates move or not.
What is a seller credit, and can I always get one?
It is money the seller agrees to put toward your closing costs. It is not a discount on the rate and it is not cash in your pocket — it reduces what you bring to the table. How much a seller is allowed to pay is capped, and the cap depends on the loan type and how much you are putting down, so a credit that works on one file can be too big on another. It is also a negotiation: in a market with competing buyers you may get none at all.
So where are rates going?
I don't know, and neither does anybody telling you they do. That is the whole reason this page is built the way it is. Both rates on it are numbers you typed, not numbers I forecast — put in the rate you are hoping for and the rate you are afraid of, and see whether the gap between them actually changes your answer. Often it changes it less than people expect.
How buying actually works · Where rates are today · Tell me when rates move · All the questions people ask