Yes, asking is reasonable, and how far you can push depends on the competition for that specific home. Sellers ultimately care about their net proceeds, so a credit request lands very differently in a bidding war than on a listing that has been sitting. Two mechanisms cover most of it: - A seller credit. You might offer $490,000 on a $500,000 home and ask the seller to put $5,000 toward your closing costs, so they net about $485,000. In a competitive spot, the way to still win is to raise your price enough that your offer minus the credit beats the others, assuming the home appraises. Watch the appraisal risk: if you bump to $505,000 to net a $5,000 credit and the home appraises at $500,000, the seller has no obligation to hand back that credit, and the gap becomes yours to cover. - A lender credit. You accept a slightly higher rate (say 7% instead of 6.75%, purely illustrative) and the lender applies a credit toward your costs. A few practical notes. Sellers normally pay their own side (their share of escrow and title, HOA transfer docs), so that is fair to expect. If an inspection turns up repairs, many contracts and lenders will not allow a simple repair credit, so asking for cash toward closing in lieu of repairs is often the cleaner route. And buyer-agent compensation is negotiable and still commonly paid by sellers, but you have to write it into the offer rather than assume it.