Rates Just Jumped. So Who Pays for What at Closing Now?
The offer comes in at a price you can live with. Then you get to page two.
The buyers are asking you to cover their closing costs. They would like you to pay for a rate buydown. And they are asking you to pay their agent's commission too.
If you are the seller, your first reaction is probably some version of "wait, all of it?" If you are the buyer, you are probably wondering whether asking for all of it makes you look unreasonable, or whether not asking leaves money on the table.
Both are fair questions. So let's go through what each of those asks means, who normally pays what here in Washington County, and how to think about it from both sides of the table.
First, what happened to rates?
This week, rates took a real jump. Freddie Mac's weekly average for a 30-year fixed was 7.03% on September 24, 2026, up from 6.95% the week before and 6.30% a year ago. Mortgage News Daily, which tracks rates day by day, had the 30-year at 7.45% the same day, up from 7.26% the day before.
(Why two numbers? Freddie Mac averages a week of loan applications. The daily index moves with the market in real time. Your actual quote depends on your credit, your down payment, and how many points you pay.)
That is a big move in a short time, and it is not a crisis. What it does is change the math on a monthly payment, and that is why the requests on page two of offers are changing too.
What does a buyer actually pay at closing here?
Here is how costs usually fall in our area. The Oregon sale agreement spells out who pays what in every deal, and anything on it can be negotiated.
Usually the buyer's:
Loan costs. Lender fees, any points, the appraisal, and the credit report.
The lender's title insurance policy, which protects the lender.
Recording fees for the deed and the new mortgage.
Prepaids. Interest from closing to the end of the month, a year of homeowner's insurance, and a starting balance in the escrow account for property taxes and insurance.
Usually the seller's:
The owner's title insurance policy, which protects the buyer's ownership.
Their real estate commission, and possibly the buyer's (more on that below).
Paying off their existing mortgage and any liens.
Usually split:
The escrow fee, which pays the escrow company that holds the money and runs the closing.
The Washington County transfer tax. Oregon has no statewide transfer tax, and Washington County is the one county that charges its own: $1 for every $1,000 of the sale price. On a $600,000 house, that is $600. The county holds both buyer and seller responsible for it, so the split is negotiated in the sale agreement.
And then there are property taxes, which trip people up every fall. In Washington County the tax year runs July 1 to June 30, statements go out in early October, and the first payment is due November 15, with a 3% discount for paying the whole year by then. A house that closes this fall will have a tax proration on the settlement statement that depends on who is paying that bill and when. Your escrow officer does the math. It is still worth knowing why that line exists.
What is a rate buydown?
A buydown means paying money at closing to get a lower interest rate. There are two kinds, and they work very differently.
A permanent buydown means paying "points." One point equals 1% of the loan amount, so on a $540,000 loan, one point is $5,400. That buys a lower rate for the life of the loan. How much lower changes daily and from lender to lender, so the only number that matters is the one on your lender's quote.
A temporary buydown, often called a 2-1 buydown, lowers the payment for the first couple of years and then goes back to the full rate. On a 7.5% loan, year one is paid as if the rate were 5.5%, year two as if it were 6.5%, and from year three on it is the full 7.5%. The seller's money sits in an account and covers the difference each month.
Some quick math on a $600,000 house with 10% down, so a $540,000 loan. These are principal and interest only, not taxes or insurance:
At 7.5%: about $3,776 a month
At 7.0%: about $3,593 a month
2-1 buydown from 7.5%: about $3,066 in year one, $3,413 in year two, then $3,776. That costs about $12,900, paid at closing.
Two things buyers should ask their lender about a temporary buydown. Most loans qualify you at the full rate, not the discounted year-one rate, so it will not help you qualify for a bigger loan. And ask what happens to any leftover buydown money if you refinance early.
What about the buyer's agent's commission?
Since 2024, a lot has changed about how buyer's agents get paid. Offers of buyer agent compensation are no longer listed on the MLS. And since January 1, 2025, Oregon law has required buyers to sign a written agreement with their agent that explains how that agent may be paid.
So the buyer's agent's pay is now something buyers can ask the seller to cover in their offer, and something the seller decides whether to agree to. Nothing requires the seller to say yes. Nothing stops a buyer from asking.
Does it all count against the same limit?
This is the part most people don't know, and it matters a lot when a buyer asks for all three.
Lenders cap how much a seller can contribute toward a buyer's costs. For conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae, the cap depends on the down payment: 3% of the price with less than 10% down, 6% with 10% to 25% down, and 9% with more than 25% down. FHA loans allow up to 6%. VA loans have their own rules.
Closing costs and rate buydowns both count toward that cap. Paying the buyer's agent's commission generally does not. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac confirmed in 2024 that seller-paid buyer agent commissions, when paid according to local custom, are not counted as seller concessions, and FHA took a similar position.
Here is what that looks like in practice. On that $600,000 house with 10% down, the cap is 6%, or $36,000. With 5% down it drops to 3%, or $18,000, and a buyer asking for $12,000 in closing costs plus a $12,900 buydown just went over it.
One more catch: a seller credit can only pay for real costs. It cannot turn into cash back to the buyer. If the credit is bigger than the costs it can cover, the extra is simply lost.
If you are buying, what should you ask for?
Get a real lender quote before you write the offer. Ask your lender two things: what it costs to buy the rate down to a specific number, and what a 2-1 buydown would cost on your loan. Then you are asking for a figure that means something, not a round number that sounds nice.
Know your cap before you ask. Your down payment sets the limit on what the seller can put toward your costs, and asking for more than you can use gets you nothing.
Compare the ask with a price cut. On that same house, a $15,000 price reduction lowers the monthly payment by about $94. The same $15,000 put toward points could do a lot more, depending on your lender's pricing. If your lender says roughly $15,000 in points gets you from 7.5% to 7%, that is about $183 a month for as long as you keep the loan.
Decide in advance which ask matters most. When sellers push back, it is usually on the total. Know which piece you would keep if you had to choose.
If you are selling, how should you think about it?
Look at the net, not the headline. A $15,000 concession and a $15,000 price cut do about the same thing to what you walk away with. They do very different things to the buyer's monthly payment. That gap is room to negotiate.
A buydown can be the cheaper yes. If a buyer needs a lower payment, a buydown can get them there for less than the price cut it would take to do the same thing. That can be the difference between an offer that works and one that falls apart.
Decide on buyer agent compensation before you list. Not in the middle of an offer. Talk it through with your agent up front, so a request on page two is a question you already know how to answer.
Watch the appraisal. When a buyer asks for concessions and a slightly higher price to cover them, the house still has to appraise at that price. If it doesn't, you will be back at the table.
What I usually tell my clients
The request list on page two is not a sign that a buyer is difficult. Right now it is mostly a sign that the payment math got harder this week.
Whichever side I am on, I want the conversation to be about the monthly payment and the net number, not just the price. That is where these deals actually come together. And I would rather we figure out the lender limits before an offer goes in than find out during underwriting.
If you are buying and selling at the same time, you are on both sides of this at once, and the math on one house affects the other. Should I Sell Before I Buy, or Buy Before I Sell? walks through that part.
Your numbers are specific
Everything above is a starting point. Your loan type, down payment, credit and lender pricing change every one of these numbers, and so does the sale agreement you actually sign. Your lender and your escrow officer are the people who make the final math real, and I would bring both of them in early.
You do not need to have any of this figured out before you talk to me. Figuring it out is the conversation. Send me the house, the loan type and the rough numbers, and I will tell you what I would think through.
One question for you: if you could have a seller pay for just one thing, would it be the lower price, the lower rate, or the closing costs? I am curious whether people pick the same answer I would.
Warmly,
Tiffanie
Tiffanie Danley
Licensed Realtor in Oregon | Real Broker
Oregon License 201206631
P: 503-453-6580
IG: @tiffaniedanley
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