Edge Homes
1.99%5.675% APR
1.99% Yr 1 · 2.99% Yr 2 · 3.99% Yrs 3+ (7/6 ARM, 5.675% APR)
For buyers · New construction
Builder incentives, explained.
Buydowns, intro rates, closing credits — builder incentives are real money, and genuinely hard to compare. Here’s how each one actually works, the short-term and long-term benefits, and which buyers each one fits.
50+ Homes SoldNew-Construction SpecialistUtah County
Start here
Why builders offer incentives instead of cutting prices.
A resale seller can drop their price quietly. A builder can’t — every price cut resets the comparable value of the whole community, including the homes their earlier buyers just closed on. So builders protect the price and help you with the financing instead: rate buydowns, intro rates, and closing credits, usually through an affiliated lender. That’s good business, and it can be genuinely good for you — a dollar spent on your rate often does more for your monthly payment than a dollar off the price.
The catch is comparison. One community advertises a Year-1 payment that steps up; another’s is permanent; a third offers cash at closing. They’re all real benefits with different shapes — and the ads don’t make the shapes visible. This page does.
The landscape right now
Updated September 7What builders are advertising today.
Across the tracked inventory in my system, these are the financing programs builders are advertising themselves, as of September 7 — named, because the numbers are already on their billboards.
Lennar
1.99%6.712% APR
1.99% Yr1 / 2.99% Yr2 / 3.99% Yrs3-7 (6.712% APR) — 7/6 ARM w/ 2-1 temp buydown
D.R. Horton
2.25%5.709% APR
7/6 ARM + 2/1 Temp Buydown: 2.25% Yr1 · 3.25% Yr2 · 4.25% Yrs3-7 (5.709% APR)
Ivory Homes
as low as2.99%6.811% APR
FHA 30-Year Fixed, 3/2/1 Temporary Buydown, rates as low as 2.99% (APR 6.811%)
Meritage Homes
as low as4.75%4.965% APR
Rates as low as 4.75% (4.965% APR) on select SLC homes through September 15
Visionary Homes
4.99%5.098% APR
4.99% Fixed Rate on Select Quick Move-In Homes (5.098% APR) — First Colony Mortgage, up to $5,000 credit
Richmond American
4.999%5.737% APR
Permanent rate buydown via closing-cost assistance OR up to $40K Flex Funds — FHA 4.999% (5.737% APR), Conventional 5.375% (5.508% APR), VA 4.999% (5.287% APR), 30-yr fixed
Destination Homes
2-1 Temporary Buydown — seller-paid, reduced payments for first 24 months (no rate/APR disclosed)
LGI Homes
up to$35,000
Up to $35,000 toward closing costs & rate buydown, plus the Complete Home Package
Want to see every current move-in-ready home from these builders?
These are each builder’s own advertised financing programs, observed across tracked inventory — not offers of credit, and not terms I set. Programs are typically conditioned on the builder’s affiliated lender, vary by home and buyer, and change without notice. Before you write an offer, I verify the current program on the actual home with the builder directly.
Incentive type 1 of 4
The temporary rate buydown (2/1, 1/1, or 1/0)
The builder deposits money with the lender to lower your interest rate for the first year or two. The digits name the discount each year: a 2/1 buydown is 2% below the note rate in Year 1 and 1% below in Year 2; a 1/1 is 1% below for two years; a 1/0 is 1% below the first year only. After that, the full rate applies. The loan itself is a normal fixed-rate mortgage; the buydown is a prepaid subsidy sitting in escrow, funded by the builder.
The short-term benefit
- Meaningfully lower payments in Years 1–2 — often hundreds of dollars a month while you absorb moving, furnishing, and landscaping costs.
- The advertised Year-1 payment is real — you genuinely pay it, for that year.
The long-term picture
- The payment steps up on schedule, and Year 3's number — the complete ongoing payment — is the one your budget lives with. Every home on this site shows it.
- Worth asking the lender: what happens to unused buydown funds if you refinance or sell early — they're often credited at payoff, which softens the downside.
Good for buyers looking for… Buyers whose income is rising, who expect to refinance if rates fall, or who want breathing room in the first two years — as long as the full Year-3 payment fits your budget today, not the budget you hope to have.
Incentive type 2 of 4
The permanent rate buydown
Instead of subsidizing the first year or two, the builder pays points — sometimes through a block of below-market money reserved with their lender in advance — to lower your fixed rate for the entire life of the loan. Less dramatic in an ad than a Year-1 teaser, which is why it's the least advertised and often the most valuable incentive on the table.
The short-term benefit
- A lower payment from month one — no step-up ever coming.
- A lower rate can also help you qualify, since the lender underwrites the real ongoing payment.
The long-term picture
- The savings compound every year you hold the loan — over a long stay, a permanent buydown routinely beats a headline-equivalent price cut or temporary buydown.
- No refinance needed to keep the benefit, so it holds its value even if rates stay flat.
Good for buyers looking for… Buyers planning to stay put five years or more. If you're comparing one builder's temporary buydown against another's permanent one, the complete ongoing payment is the number that makes them comparable — and it's the number I compute on every home.
Incentive type 3 of 4
The ARM intro rate
An adjustable-rate mortgage carries a fixed rate for an intro period — usually 5, 7, or 10 years — then adjusts periodically with the market, within caps that limit how far it can move at each adjustment and over the loan's life. Some builder programs pair an ARM with a buydown on top, which is how the lowest advertised payments are usually built.
The short-term benefit
- Intro rates typically run below a comparable 30-year fixed, so the early payment is lower.
- A long intro period covers the entire ownership window many buyers actually have.
The long-term picture
- After the intro period the rate floats — up or down. The caps, not the intro rate, define your worst case; know them before you sign, not after.
- If your plan is 'I'll refinance before it adjusts,' remember that's a bet on future rates and future qualifying — a plan B budget at the capped rate is the honest test.
Good for buyers looking for… Buyers confident they'll sell or refinance within the fixed period — a starter home, a relocation timeline, a build-then-move plan — who have also looked the capped worst-case payment in the eye.
Incentive type 4 of 4
Closing-cost credits & flex cash
A dollar amount the builder contributes toward your closing costs, prepaid taxes and insurance, rate buydown, or sometimes options and upgrades — usually conditioned on using the builder's affiliated lender. It's the most flexible incentive: the same dollars can shrink your cash-to-close or buy your rate down, depending on what you need most.
The short-term benefit
- Directly lowers the cash you need on closing day — often the single biggest barrier for first-time buyers.
- Applied to a buydown instead, the same credit lowers the monthly payment — you choose the shape of the benefit.
The long-term picture
- Cash at closing doesn't change the ongoing payment by itself — a home with a big credit and a high price can still cost more per month than its plainer neighbor.
- The comparison that matters is total: price, rate, credit, and the complete monthly payment, side by side.
Good for buyers looking for… Buyers who are payment-comfortable but cash-tight — when the down payment plus closing costs are the real hurdle, a closing credit is worth more to you than a slightly lower rate.
The method
How to compare any two incentives.
Every incentive, whatever its shape, answers to the same two numbers: the complete ongoing monthly payment— principal and interest at the permanent rate, taxes, insurance, PMI, and HOA, after any intro period ends — and your total cash to close. Compute both for each home and the shapes become comparable. Three questions get you there with any builder: What is the payment in Year 3? What happens if I refinance or sell early? And what would the same incentive dollars do applied a different way?
That recomputation is what this site does on every tracked home — see it live on the buyers page and on each community page.
Common questions
Incentive questions buyers actually ask.
Do I have to use the builder's lender to get the incentive?
Almost always, yes — the advertised incentive is typically conditioned on financing through the builder's affiliated or preferred lender. That's legal and disclosed, and the affiliated lender is often genuinely competitive once the incentive is counted. The right move isn't to refuse the builder's lender — it's to get a same-day quote from one outside lender and compare the complete monthly payment and cash-to-close both ways. Sometimes the incentive wins; occasionally an outside rate beats it even after giving the incentive up.
Which is worth more — a price cut or a rate incentive?
It depends on how long you stay. A price cut lowers the payment a little forever and lowers your loan balance; a permanent buydown often lowers the payment more per builder dollar spent; a temporary buydown front-loads the benefit into two years. Builders usually prefer rate incentives because they protect the community's comparable sale prices — which also protects the value of the home you're buying. The honest comparison is the complete ongoing monthly payment plus total cash out of pocket, computed both ways — which is exactly the math I run with my buyers.
Can I negotiate on top of the advertised incentive?
Sometimes. Advertised programs are usually fixed, but builders have more flexibility on specific homes — completed inventory that's been standing, quarter-end and year-end timing, or the last homes in a phase. The on-site agent works for the builder, so what's flexible and what isn't won't always be volunteered. This is where having your own representation — at no cost to you, without changing the price — earns its keep.
Is a big incentive a sign something is wrong with the home?
No. Incentives are mostly about timing and inventory, not quality — a builder with completed homes carries real monthly costs on each one, and financing help moves them without cutting the community's comp prices. A large incentive on a standing-inventory home is normal business. The home still gets the same scrutiny any new build should: an independent inspection, a blue-tape walk, and a contract read closely before you sign.
Does bringing my own agent change my incentive or my price?
No. Builders publish one price and one incentive program, and their on-site agents represent the builder — bringing your own agent doesn't raise your price or shrink your incentive. What changes is that someone on your side reads the contract, tracks the deposit and deadline mechanics, compares the lender math both ways, and walks the home with you before closing.
I’m a Realtor®, not a lender — this page explains how builder incentive programs are commonly structured, not the terms of any specific offer. Programs, rates, and availability are set by each builder and lender and change without notice. Numeric examples inside the type explanations are hypothetical illustrations; any current figures in the landscape section are the builders’ own advertised terms as of the date shown. Before you write an offer, I verify the current program on the actual home with the builder directly.
Put it to work
Comparing two incentives right now?
Tell me the homes and I’ll run both to their complete monthly payment and cash-to-close — the same math on both, so the better deal is visible instead of advertised.
The consult
What happens when you call.
01
Call or text Stephanie.
Reach her at (385) 330-7198. If she’s with a client, you’ll hear back quickly — usually within the hour during business hours.
02
We talk through your situation.
You’ll walk out of the call with three things: a quick read on your market, a clear sense of timing, and an honest answer to whatever’s keeping you up at night. If you’d like a CMA, I’ll send one.
03
You decide what’s next.
A few natural paths: an in-person meeting at the home, a CMA delivered by email, a showing tour, or — when you’re ready — sending the agreement. No pressure on any of them.
Most clients have a second conversation within a week. Some take three months. Both are fine.
Call Stephanie — (385) 330-7198