For a limited time, North Carolina home buyers can lock in a full 1 percentage point lower mortgage rate for year one — with no cost to the buyer, the seller, or anyone else.
If your normal rate would be 6.5%, your year-one rate is 5.5%. Year two onward, you're back at 6.5%. Same loan, same closing process, just a softer landing for the first 12 months of NC homeownership — the months most buyers tell us are the toughest cash-flow stretch (especially right after a Charlotte, Raleigh, or Cary relocation).
On a typical NC purchase at $450,000, the year-one savings are real: roughly $250 per month or $3,000 over the first 12 months. That's a real first-year cushion for the higher-cost NC metros.
This is a lender-funded credit. In a normal year, somebody has to pay for the buydown — typically the seller. Right now the lender is funding it for free on eligible purchase loans. That window closes June 30, 2026, with no signal it will extend.
Available statewide on eligible purchase loans — Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Asheville, Wilmington, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Concord, and every NC submarket in between.
OpenKey Mortgage Advisors became licensed in North Carolina in May 2026. As an independent broker shopping 50+ wholesale lenders, we can structure this buydown on your NC purchase whether you're in Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham, Buncombe, or New Hanover County.
For the full mechanics, real-number examples, and how to use this as a negotiating angle on an offer, read our full blog post: The Free 1-0 Buydown Through June 30, 2026.
Call or text Samantha Payne at (864) 387-8964, email Samantha@openkeymortgage.com. Eligibility on most conventional, FHA, and VA fixed-rate purchase loans.
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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