Someone Else Pays Down Your First Years.

A seller or builder funded buydown lowers your payment for the opening years, then steps up to the standard note rate.*

Pre-Qualified Temporary Buydown Seller or Builder Funded Set Term Purchase Pre-Qualified Temporary Buydown Seller or Builder Funded Set Term Purchase

A discount someone else pays for.

The money sits in an escrow account and is released each month to cover the gap. It is not a lower loan, it is a funded subsidy.

  • Structures include 1/0, 2/1 and 3/2/1*
  • Credit requirements vary by program, and one route has no minimum score*
  • Owner occupied homes and second homes only
  • Purchase transactions, and on some programs a limited cash out refinance*
  • You qualify at the standard note rate, not the reduced one*
  • Manufactured homes are eligible on some buydown programs, with conditions
Path leading to a front door

Credit requirements vary by program*

Structures include 1/0, 2/1 and 3/2/1*

Owner occupied homes and second homes only

Purchase transactions, and on some programs a limited cash out refinance*

You must qualify at the standard note rate, without the benefit of the buydown*

Manufactured homes are eligible on some buydown programs, with conditions

What is the Saxton Temporary Buydown?

A funded subsidy that lowers the payment for the opening years of the loan

A temporary buydown is money placed in escrow at closing, usually by the seller or the builder, and released each month to cover the difference between a reduced payment and the real one. The loan itself never changes.

Two things decide a buydown: who is funding it, and what the payment becomes when it ends. Both are known before you close, which is what separates this from a teaser.

The structures are named for how they step. A 2/1 reduces the rate more in the first year than the second, then reaches the note rate. A 3/2/1 takes three years to get there. The reduction reaches its full amount at the start and shrinks each year until it is gone.*

Hand turning a key in a lock

Why choose the Saxton Temporary Buydown?

Built for buyers negotiating with a builder, and for sellers who would rather fund a payment than cut a price.

Builders Fund These

A buydown is the main tool builders use to move standing inventory, which makes it a direct route into builder relationships.

Better Than A Price Cut

For a seller, funding a buydown often moves the buyer more than the equivalent discount on the price does.

You Qualify At The Real Rate

Approval is based on the standard note rate without the benefit of the buydown, so the payment can never step up past what you were approved for.*

Three Years At Most

The subsidy runs no longer than three years before the payment reaches the standard note rate. Plan around that date, not around the first year.*

Not On Every Property

Manufactured homes are eligible on some buydown programs, with conditions, and the buydown is for a home you occupy or a second home rather than a rental.*

Fixed Or Adjustable

Buydowns can sit on fixed rate financing and on the longer adjustable structures, depending on the program.*

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Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers about temporary rate buydowns.

Usually the seller or the builder, funded at closing into an escrow account. It is a negotiated concession rather than something you buy yourself.

The payment steps up to the standard note rate on a schedule that is set before you close. Nothing is a surprise, and the date is known from the start.*

No, and this is the most important thing on this page. You are qualified at the standard note rate without the benefit of the buydown, which means the payment can never step up past a figure you were not approved for.*

No more than three years before the payment reaches the standard note rate.*

The common ones are 1/0, 2/1 and 3/2/1. The first number is the size of the reduction in year one, and the reduction shrinks each year until it is gone.*

No. A temporary buydown is for a home you occupy or a second home. Investment property is not eligible.*

No. Manufactured homes are excluded from temporary buydowns on the programs we place.*

Find out what you qualify for

If a builder or a seller is offering to fund your first years, there is likely a Saxton Temporary Buydown that fits. Get a fast, no obligation pre-qualification today.

Get Pre-Qualified
Official program information
Written by Saxton Retail Mortgage · Reviewed by Saxton Mortgage, LLC, NMLS #1717191 · Last updated August 27, 2026

*Loan amounts, rates, terms, and down payment requirements are subject to credit approval, income and asset verification, and program eligibility. Temporary buydown structures, funding sources and eligibility vary by program. The payment increases on a set schedule until it reaches the standard note rate. Qualifying is completed at the standard note rate without the benefit of the buydown. Not all applicants will qualify. Saxton Mortgage, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender.