A rebate comes from your agent's commission. A concession comes from the seller. They're separate credits, negotiated separately — and on the same deal they can wipe out your closing costs entirely. Here's the playbook and the caps.
Yes, you can often combine both. A seller concession is the seller's money, negotiated in your purchase offer and capped by loan type (commonly ~3–9% conventional depending on down payment, up to 6% FHA, ~4% VA). A buyer rebate is your agent's commission returned to you, disclosed separately on the Closing Disclosure. Your lender reviews the combined credits against your actual closing costs and prepaids — structured early, the stack routinely covers closing costs entirely, with excess converting to a rate buydown.
Buyers conflate these constantly, and the confusion costs money. Keep them separate and you can pursue both.
| Seller concession | Buyer rebate (ours) | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose money | The seller's | Your agent's commission |
| Negotiated in | Your purchase offer | Your buyer representation agreement |
| Depends on | Market leverage, seller motivation | Purchase price — fixed at 1% |
| Typical use | Closing costs, rate buydown | Closing costs, prepaids, rate buydown |
| Capped by | Loan-type concession limits | Your actual costs; excess redirects |
Because they come from different parties and different documents, asking for one doesn't spend the other. Your rebate is locked before you shop; concessions get negotiated deal by deal — strongest on longer-market listings, price reductions, condos with slow HOA absorption, and post-inspection repair talks.
Lender fees, title, escrow, recording, plus prepaid taxes and insurance. (Illustrative — CA closing costs commonly run 2–3% of price.)
Won during the inspection contingency against documented repair items.
1% of price, disclosed on the Closing Disclosure as a buyer credit.
Cash to close drops to essentially the down payment. Had credits exceeded costs, the excess would fund discount points to lower the rate.
Full breakdown of what closing costs contain: California buyer closing costs.
How your agent's rebate interacts with those caps is a lender-level determination — the combined credits get reviewed against your actual closing costs and program rules. This is where having the mortgage side in-house pays: we run the stack through iLoanCA before your offer goes out, so the credits you negotiate are credits you can actually use. Details in our lender rules guide.
Tell us your target price and loan type. We'll size the full stack — rebate plus realistic concession targets — before you write a single offer.
Disclaimer: Portfolio Home Realty is a licensed California real estate brokerage (DRE #02232009) serving Los Angeles County and Orange County. The buyer rebate is a portion of the buyer-side commission returned to eligible buyers at closing and is generally up to 1% of the purchase price, subject to lender approval and the seller offering buyer-agent compensation. Dollar figures, competitor fee ranges, and third-party program terms on this page are illustrative estimates based on publicly available information at the time of writing, are not guarantees, and may change — verify current terms directly with any brokerage or lender. This page is general information, not legal, tax, or lending advice — consult your CPA, attorney, or lender about your situation. Equal Housing Opportunity.