Builders can often deliver a better rate than a bank or broker, and your credit profile has little to do with why. A builder can buy down the rate or lock big blocks of financing in advance through their affiliated lender, and they use that to move inventory. Two things follow: - New construction only. There is no builder buydown on a resale home. If you are shopping existing houses, this advantage is off the table. - Qualification is essentially binary. Either you qualify for the loan or you do not. The builder subsidizes the rate for any qualified buyer, strong credit or merely adequate, because the incentive exists to sell the home rather than to reward your credit score. One caution before you take the headline number: a builder credit is given in lieu of a lower purchase price, so it is your own money, just moved around. And a headline buydown sometimes comes bundled with pricing that offsets it. Compare the builder's lender against an independent quote on total cost, and we are glad to run that comparison with you in the free Roadmap conversation.