Do I have to offer concessions to sell my home?

"Do I HAVE to offer concessions to sell my house?"

I hear this from sellers almost weekly now. And I get why the question stings. It sounds like giving money away.

Let me reframe it: you're not giving money away. You're buying your buyer's monthly payment down. And in this market, that's what gets deals done.

The numbers: concessions are the new normal

This isn't a San Antonio quirk. It's the whole country. In the three months ending August 31, 54.2% of San Antonio home sales included a seller concession, according to Redfin. Nationally, 44.7% of August sales had concessions, rising above 45% in September. Both are record highs. Redfin called August 2026 the strongest buyer's market in its records, which go back to 2013.

Texas is right in the thick of it: 58.5% of Houston sales, 53.3% of Dallas sales, and 51.7% of Austin sales included concessions. Eight of the ten highest-concession metros in the country are in the Sun Belt.

So no, offering a concession doesn't signal desperation. More than half your competition is already doing it.

The buydown beats the price cut

Here's what most sellers get wrong. When a buyer is choosing between your house at $300,000 and another at $295,000, they don't care much about the $5,000 difference. They care about the monthly payment.

That's where a rate buydown comes in. It's the concession buyers want most right now, and the math is eye-opening.

Take a $300,000 home at today's 7.24% rate. The monthly principal and interest runs about $2,045. A 2-1 buydown drops the buyer's rate to 5.24% in year one, which brings the payment to roughly $1,655. That's about $390 less per month in the first year, and still around $200 less per month in year two.

The cost to you as the seller? Roughly $6,000.

Compare that to a $15,000 price cut. The buydown costs you less than half, and it does far more for the buyer's actual budget. Ten thousand in buydown money routinely outperforms a fifteen thousand dollar price cut, and it nets you more at closing.

What buyers actually ask for

Rate buydowns lead the list, but they're not the only play. The most common concessions I'm seeing:

• Rate buydowns (2-1 or 1-0): the biggest monthly-payment impact per dollar
• Closing cost credits: simple, flexible, covers the buyer's cash-to-close gap
• Repair credits: lets the buyer handle fixes their way after closing
• Home warranties: cheap for you, real peace of mind for them

Know the caps

One guardrail: loan programs cap how much a seller can contribute. Conventional loans typically allow 3-6% of the sale price depending on the buyer's down payment. On a $300,000 sale, that's $9,000 to $18,000 of room. Plenty for a buydown strategy. Your lender can confirm the exact cap for your buyer's loan type before you offer anything.

How to offer without looking desperate

The mistake is advertising "seller desperate, bring all offers" energy. The move is positioning. List the buydown option in the MLS remarks where buyer's agents see it. Have your agent mention it on showing feedback calls: "Seller is open to a 2-1 buydown instead of a price reduction." You're not discounting the house. You're offering financing creativity, which reads as confident, not desperate.

And here's the warning the data backs up: 15.8% of August sales had BOTH a price cut and a concession. Don't be the seller who does both because you priced wrong in the first place. Price it right, then use the concession as a lever.

The bottom line

Concessions aren't weakness. They're strategy. The sellers closing deals right now understand that a few thousand toward the buyer's monthly payment beats a five-figure price cut almost every time.

Want me to run your net sheet both ways, price cut versus buydown, in real dollars? That's a free conversation, and it might be the most profitable 15 minutes of your sale. Start with what your home is worth today, then call or text me at (210) 331-3870 and we will run both sets of numbers on your house.

Sources

1. Redfin housing market data, three months ending August 31, 2026, and September 2026 monthly figures (concession shares, buyer's market ranking)
2. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 30-year fixed at 7.24%, week ending October 29, 2026