Decision tools
Buyer Offer Strategy Simulator
A seller credit toward closing costs, a rate buydown you pay for yourself, and waived contingencies all change your numbers differently. Compare offer structures on payment and cash to close, side by side.
Direct answer:enter two or more ways you’re considering structuring an offer — price, down payment, rate, seller credit, points, and which contingencies you’d keep or waive — and this calculator shows the monthly payment and cash to close for each. It never predicts whether a seller would accept any of them, and it never frames waiving a contingency as a way to win.
Offer structures (2 of 4 max)
At list price, ask for a credit
$2,627
Monthly payment (principal & interest)
$45,000 cash to close — $45,000 down, $9,000 closing costs, $0 in points, minus $9,000 applied seller credit.
All standard contingencies kept
Buy down the rate, no credit
$2,363
Monthly payment (principal & interest)
$62,100 cash to close — $45,000 down, $9,000 closing costs, $8,100 in points, minus $0 applied seller credit.
All standard contingencies kept
This tool only calculates your own payment and cash-to-close mechanics for each structure — it never predicts whether a seller would accept any of them, since that depends on the seller’s own situation and how competitive the market is, neither of which this tool can know. Waiving a contingency isn’t shown here as a way to win a deal — it’s a real transfer of risk to you: an inspection contingency protects you from unknown defects, an appraisal contingency protects you from paying more than a lender will finance, and a financing contingency protects your earnest money if your loan falls through. Waive any of them only with a clear-eyed understanding of what you’d be giving up.
Numbers you control, not odds you can't
You can calculate your own payment. You can't calculate a seller's decision.
Every structure below changes your monthly payment or your cash to close in a real, calculable way. Whether it wins the house is a different question entirely — one that depends on the seller, the competition, and the market, not a formula.
Methodology
How each structure is calculated.
Monthly payment uses standard mortgage amortization on the loan amount (offer price minus down payment) at the entered rate and term — the same calculation behind every mortgage calculator on this site.
Points cost the loan amount times the entered percentage (one point equals 1% of the loan), the same formula used by the Permanent Rate Buydown Calculator.
Cash to closeis down payment plus closing costs plus points, minus any seller credit actually applied. The credit applied is capped at actual closing costs and points combined — real contracts don’t let a credit reduce your down payment or exceed your actual costs, and this tool flags it if your requested credit is larger than that.
Contingencies waived are counted, not scored — this tool has no way to know whether waiving one actually improves your odds with a specific seller.
Worked example (hypothetical)
A $450,000 offer with 10% down, asking for a $9,000 seller credit at 6.75%, versus the same price and down payment with no credit but 2 points paid to buy the rate down to 5.75%, both with 2% estimated closing costs, produces monthly payments of roughly $2,627 and $2,363 respectively — but cash to close is $45,000 for the credit structure versus $62,100 for the buydown structure, since the buyer pays the points directly. Change any number above to see how it moves — this example is illustrative only, not a projection for any specific property or offer.
Downside cases
- A lower monthly payment from a rate buydown you pay for yourself costs real cash up front — make sure you’d stay in the loan long enough to recoup it (see the Permanent Rate Buydown Calculator for that math).
- Requesting a seller credit larger than actual closing costs and points doesn’t create extra cash — it just goes unused, and this tool will flag it.
- Waiving an appraisal contingency means you’re on the hook for the gap if the home appraises below your offer price — make sure you have cash available to cover that if it happens.
National considerations
Lender rules on seller-credit caps, and how common waived contingencies are, vary by loan program and by how competitive the local market is.
Utah considerations
How competitive multiple-offer situations are varies by Utah county and price point — see Utah-specific market guidance for the regional detail behind these assumptions.
Author: Todd McClean, Realtor® | Real Estate Investment Strategist, Mountainland Realty, Inc.. Reviewed July 26, 2026. This tool provides general real estate information and is not legal, tax, accounting, lending, securities, commodities, or financial-planning advice.
Frequently asked questions
Does this tool tell me which offer a seller is likely to accept?
Does waiving a contingency help my offer get accepted?
Why does the seller-credit calculation cap at closing costs?
Can I compare more than 4 structures?
Related
Go deeper before you write the offer.
Next step
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Tell us about the home and the structure you’re considering. A strategic review adds the lender and market specifics this calculator can’t know.