Most deals these days involve some amount of seller concessions. For FHA loans (which are increasing dramatically in volume because of the low interest rates and relaxed underwriting guidelines), the seller has two choices - they can either pay for the closing costs, or they can pay for the buyer's 3% down payment. Only FHA loans allow the seller to pay for the down payment by contributing the money to a down payment assistance program.
If you are only going to ask for 3% seller concessions when submitting an offer, we recommend that you ask that the 3% go towards paying the closing costs rather than towards the down payment. It has been our observation that sellers are much more likely to agree to pay for closing costs than the down payment, even though the 3% they have agreed to pay is the same amount of money no matter what it pays for.
Hi Jude,
Thanks for the mortgage tip. Have a nice day. Michael A. Caruso