---
title: "How to Activate Seller Rebate/Contributions (B1124-015)"
description: "A percentage of the price, split between closing costs and a rate buydown."
url: https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/28-how-to-activate-seller-rebatecontributions-b1124-015
collection: "Using Padzilly"
updated: 2026-10-01
language: en
alternates: [es]
---

# How to Activate Seller Rebate/Contributions (B1124-015)

A percentage of the price, split between closing costs and a rate buydown.

A seller rebate — also called a seller contribution or concession — is money the seller pays on your behalf. It is the most underused tool a buyer has, and in Padzilly you can model it before you ever make an offer.

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### Where to find it

Open a property and go to **OfferPro**. One of the three controls is **Seller rebate (contribution)**.

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### It is a percentage

The slider is set as a **percentage of the purchase price**, not a dollar figure. Padzilly then shows you the dollar result.

So on a $400,000 home, moving the slider to 3% is asking the seller for $12,000. Small values are real values — 0.5% means half a percent, which on that home is $2,000.

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### The two things a rebate can do

This is the part worth understanding, because the same money produces very different outcomes.

**Toward closing costs.** The seller's money covers your settlement costs — title insurance, loan origination, escrow fees and the rest — so you bring less cash on closing day. Your monthly payment does not change.

**Toward a rate buydown.** The seller's money buys your interest rate down, so your monthly payment drops for as long as you hold the loan. Your cash at closing does not improve.

OfferPro also has **Auto buydown**, which works out the split between the two for you.

Which one you want depends on your actual problem. If you are short on cash today, put it toward closing costs. If the payment is what fails to qualify, put it toward the buydown. If you are not sure, try both and watch which figure turns green.

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### What updates while you move it

Your **cash to close** and your **monthly payment**, live, both colour-coded against your loan approval. A home that does not qualify at asking price often qualifies once a realistic seller contribution is in the structure.

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### The limits — and who is responsible for them

Loan programs cap how much a seller is allowed to contribute. The usual figures are:

-   **Conventional** — typically 3% of the purchase price with less than 10% down, up to 6% with 10% or more
    
-   **FHA** — up to 6%
    
-   **VA** — up to 4%
    
-   **USDA** — up to 6%
    

**Padzilly does not enforce these caps for you, and you should not treat the slider as a compliance check.** You can model a contribution that your loan program would not allow. The slider is a what-if tool for structuring and negotiating, not an underwriting decision.

Before you submit an offer built on a seller rebate, **confirm the amount with your loan officer.** They know your program, your down payment and the current guidelines, and they are the one who has to make the loan work. A thirty-second message saves you a renegotiation later.

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### How to use it in a real negotiation

Ask for the contribution before you ask for a price cut.

A seller who refuses to drop $12,000 off the price will often agree to pay $12,000 toward your costs. It costs them exactly the same money, but the sale price on record stays higher — which matters to them for the comparables in their neighbourhood and sometimes for their own next purchase.

Same money, easier yes. That is the whole trick, and Padzilly lets you arrive at the conversation knowing precisely which number you need.