Melissa Sanford, Realtor, RSPS

11/25/2025

11/13/2025

🎊😁 Congratulations 🎊

08/05/2025

Let’s talk about how builders are advertising 4.99% mortgage rates while the rest of the world is stuck at 7%.

This isn’t a conspiracy or magic—it's strategy. And you need to know what you're actually getting into before signing anything.

Here’s what’s really going on:

Builders are sitting on a lot of inventory. They’re paying holding costs, interest, taxes, and insurance on every unsold property. They need to move homes—but they don’t want to cut the price. If they cut prices, it hurts the value of the neighborhood and upsets folks who bought last year at full price.

So instead, they’re offering “rate buydowns.”

A rate buydown is when the builder (through their preferred lender) pays money upfront to temporarily or permanently lower your interest rate. That’s how you're seeing 4.99% offers when the going rate might be 6.99%. It’s real—but it’s not free.

That lower rate might cost the builder $20,000–$40,000 depending on the home price and how long the buydown lasts. And you better believe they’re baking that into the price or pushing you to use their lender to make it back.

Now, is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. But you have to understand the trade-offs:

You may end up paying more for the house than it’s worth because they didn’t lower the base price—they just made it look more affordable with the rate.

That rate might only last 1–3 years (temporary buydown), and after that, it jumps.

You might have to use their lender, which means you're not shopping around to see if there’s something better out there.

It may be harder to build equity early on, especially if the market softens.

According to recent builder data, more than 60% of builders are offering some kind of incentive right now—either through interest rate buydowns, closing cost credits, or free upgrades. Big names like Lennar, Pulte, and D.R. Horton are all doing it. Why? Because it works. It keeps sales moving without messing up their pricing structure.

But here’s what I tell clients: Always compare. Sometimes a slightly higher rate and a lower price (from a resale or non-incentivized new build) can put you in a better long-term position—especially if you're only planning to be in the home 3–5 years.

If you're looking at new construction and getting these builder offers, I’m happy to sit with you and break it down line by line. I’ll show you what’s real, what’s smoke and mirrors, and whether it's actually a win for you.

Because the rate might look sexy, but the math doesn’t lie.

– Dunn Anderson | NMLS #1946644
📞 602.642.6554

05/19/2025

Orchid Lake Estates. Let's go fishing! 😁

07/10/2024

Spacious!!

06/14/2024

Just a reminder of what hard work and determination can accomplish ❤️🙌