For a limited time, buyers can get a full one percent lower interest rate for the first year of their mortgage at no cost to anyone. Here's how a 1-0 buydown works and how to lock it in before June 30.
Moving into a new home is expensive. Even if you nailed the down payment and the closing costs, the first 12 months are usually the most cash-tight stretch of homeownership. There are appliances to buy, paint to put on the walls, blinds to hang, a yard to figure out, and a hundred small surprises you didn't budget for.
There's a tool that gives you breathing room exactly when you need it, and right now, for a limited time, somebody else is paying for it. Through June 30, 2026, eligible purchase loans can include a free 1-0 buydown. Lower payment in year one, normal payment after that, and nobody you know is writing a check to make it happen.
A buydown is a temporary reduction in your mortgage interest rate. The numbers tell you the structure. A 1-0 buydown means the rate is dropped by 1 percentage point in year one, and then it goes back to the normal note rate in year two and stays there for the life of the loan.
So if your normal interest rate would be 6.5 percent, with a 1-0 buydown your first year is at 5.5 percent. Year two onward, you're back at 6.5 percent.
Let's say you're buying a $375,000 home with a $325,000 mortgage and a 6.5 percent rate.
Year two onward, you go back to the $2,054 payment. So you didn't permanently lower your rate, you got a real first-year cushion.
In a normal year, somebody has to pay for that year-one discount. Either the seller agrees to cover it as part of negotiating the deal (most common), the buyer pays for it upfront at closing, or the agent contributes a portion. It is a real cost, and somebody has to write the check.
That's why this offer is unusual. Right now, through June 30, 2026, the cost of the buydown is covered for free on eligible purchase loans. The seller does not have to give it up. The buyer does not have to pay for it. It is a lender-funded credit, and it disappears when the window closes.
If you're competing on a home, you can use this as a strong negotiating angle. The seller doesn't have to chip in toward a rate concession. You walk in with a lower first-year payment built in. It is a real “feature” you can add to your offer at no cost to either side.
If you're looking at the monthly payment and feeling stretched, a lower year-one number genuinely matters. It gives you room to settle in, build the emergency fund back up, and adjust to the higher property tax and insurance numbers that come with a new home. By the time year two arrives, you've had a full year to get comfortable.
Many new construction homes already come with builder incentives. Stacking a free 1-0 buydown on top of those incentives can dramatically lower your first-year cost of homeownership.
Lender-paid offers like this typically run for short windows because they're funded out of the lender's marketing budget. Once the window closes, the cost reverts to the buyer or seller. We have no advance signal that this will be extended past June 30. If a 1-0 buydown sounds useful, the conversation should happen in May or early June, not in late June when the loan paperwork is rushing to meet the deadline.
Get preapproved with the buydown baked in. Your preapproval letter will show both numbers: the actual payment in year one and the payment for year two onward. That gives you a more accurate picture of what you'll really pay, and it gives you a great talking point when you're negotiating an offer.
If you've been waiting for a sign to start looking, this might be it. The rate environment is what it is, but offers like this one are how smart buyers carve real savings out of a tough market.
At OpenKey Mortgage Advisors, we work with the buyers most banks won't take a second look at. As an independent mortgage broker shopping 50+ wholesale lenders, we serve Greenville, Spartanburg, Greer, and the broader Upstate of South Carolina, plus the major North Carolina markets including Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Durham, and Wilmington.
Call or text Samantha Payne at (864) 387-8964, email Samantha@openkeymortgage.com, or visit openkeymortgageadvisors.com. OpenKey Mortgage Advisors LLC. NMLS Company ID 2812158. Samantha Payne, NMLS #2743877. Licensed in South Carolina and North Carolina. Equal Housing Opportunity.
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