How Do I Buy a Home When Interest Rates Are High?

Yes, you can buy with rates this high — because high rates give buyers tools and negotiating power that low rates never did.

Right now, the average 30-year fixed mortgage is sitting at about 7.3% (Freddie Mac, week of Oct 22, 2026).  A mortgage is just the loan you use to buy a home, and the interest rate is the extra percentage you pay the lender each year for borrowing the money. Higher rate, higher monthly payment. That's the bad news. Here's the good news.

Strategy 1: Ask for a temporary rate buydown. A buydown is when someone pays the lender upfront to lower your interest rate for the first year or two of the loan. In this market, that "someone" can be the seller. Instead of lowering the price, the seller puts money toward buying your rate down — and you keep more cash in your pocket each month while you settle in.

Strategy 2: Ask for seller concessions. A concession is money the seller agrees to put toward your closing costs — the fees you pay when the home officially becomes yours. Buyers almost never got these in 2021. Now they're back on the table, because sellers know you have other options.

Strategy 3: Buy now, refinance later. A refinance means swapping your mortgage for a new one when rates drop — and you don't need the seller's permission or a move. Here's the math on a $400,000 loan: at 7.3%, the monthly payment (principal and interest) is roughly $2,740; at 6.3% it would be about $2,475 — a difference of roughly $265 a month. That difference is real money, but it's also temporary money if you refinance later. Christi Beca's message to qualified buyers across Flower Mound, Southlake, Colleyville, Westlake, Argyle, Highland Village, Grapevine, and Bartonville is simple: buy the home that fits your life now, and refinance when rates cooperate.

Strategy 4: Use the leverage. With fewer buyers competing, you can ask for repairs, negotiate the price, and take your time on inspections. In the bidding-war years, asking for anything got your offer tossed. Today it gets you a better deal.

High rates hurt — that's honest. But they also bring back negotiation, seller help, and breathing room. Get pre-approved (that's when a lender confirms how much you can borrow before you shop), and go look at homes.  The market you buy in matters less than the home and the plan.

Why sellers are giving more right now: Why Are DFW Homes Sitting Longer Before They Sell? — it explains the longer days on market behind your negotiating power.

— Christi Beca, Top 1% Luxury REALTOR® in DFW. Call or text 214-566-2196.