---
title: Buydowns | Mortgage Clarity Help Center
description: Temporary buydown structures, who pays for them, and what the client sees.
url: https://www.mortgageclarityplatform.com/help/strategies/buydowns
site: Mortgage Clarity
updated: 2026-09-01
---

## What a temporary buydown is here

A temporary buydown cuts the rate for the first year or two and steps it back up to the note rate. The note rate never changes — the borrower qualifies at it, and the loan amortizes on it. What changes is the payment during the buydown years, funded up front by a lump sum held in escrow. Clarity models the payment path, the escrow cost, and who is paying it.

## Add a buydown to a strategy

1.  1
    
    Open the analysis and go to the loan product you want to buy down.
    
2.  2
    
    Turn the buydown on for that product. The structure options appear.
    
3.  3
    
    Pick the structure: 3-2-1, 2-1, or 1-0. The first number is how many points the rate is cut in year one.
    
    ![Buydown structure selector showing 3-2-1, 2-1, and 1-0](https://www.mortgageclarityplatform.com/help-figures/strategies__buydowns__1.png)
    
    Buydown structure selector showing 3-2-1, 2-1, and 1-0 Click to enlarge
    
4.  4
    
    Choose who pays: Seller, Lender, Buyer, or Split 50/50. This drives where the cost lands in the closing-cost picture, not just a label.
    
    A seller-paid buydown is a seller credit and competes with other concessions in the contract. A lender-paid buydown is priced into the rate. The math differs, so pick the one that matches the deal rather than the one that looks best.
    

## Reading the result

1.  5
    
    The payment for each buydown year appears alongside the note-rate payment, so the step-up is visible rather than a surprise in year three.
    
2.  6
    
    The escrow cost is the total the payer funds at closing. It flows into the closing-cost itemization for the party paying it.
    
3.  7
    
    A 2-1 buydown cuts the rate 2% in year one and 1% in year two, then the note rate applies from year three forward. A 1-0 is one year. A 3-2-1 is three.
    

## Show it to the client

A buydown is one of the few structures where the payment changes on a schedule, so the client needs to see the schedule, not just the year-one number. The report renders the buydown module when a strategy has one, showing the payment path year by year.

1.  8
    
    Publish the analysis as usual.
    
2.  9
    
    Check the buydown module in the client's report before you send it, so the step-up year is on the page.
    
    ![The buydown module on a published client report](https://www.mortgageclarityplatform.com/help-figures/strategies__buydowns__2.png)
    
    The buydown module on a published client report Click to enlarge
    

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