The snag is how buydown funds have to be structured, and the fixes don't involve you writing a check the system can't accept. Buydown money has to be funded and transferred to the servicer or investor in a specific way, and a stray few hundred dollars coming from the buyer doesn't fit the pattern the system expects. It's a technical limitation, and it comes up more often than you'd think. Two practical fixes: - Ask your lender or your real estate agent to cover the difference directly. On a small gap, that's a common goodwill move; we've handed a client the money ourselves to keep a deal closing cleanly. - Restructure the seller credit slightly so the numbers land correctly, for instance having the seller cover a different closing-cost line item for the shortfall amount. Either route funds the buydown correctly without an out-of-pattern buyer-to-seller payment. Raise it with your loan officer now rather than at the closing table. With a few days' notice this is easy to fix; at the last minute it's a scramble.