Can I Add My Closing Costs to the Sales Price?
The short answer
Sometimes. You can't finance closing costs directly, but you can offer a higher price and ask the seller to credit your closing costs back to you. It only works if the seller agrees, your loan program allows that much seller contribution, and the home appraises at the higher price.
How It Works
You can’t simply add closing costs onto your loan in a home purchase, but an offer can be structured so the result is similar. The sales price goes up, and the seller agrees to give you a credit at closing toward your costs.
Example: the house is listed at $400,000 and you need $10,000 toward closing costs. We might offer $410,000 and ask the seller to pay $10,000 of your closing costs. After the credit, the seller’s price is still about $400,000, and you bring less cash to closing. In the Texas resale contract, the seller’s contribution toward the buyer’s expenses is written into paragraph 12.
Three Things Have to Line Up
- The seller has to agree. It’s part of the negotiation, and it may be harder to get in a competitive situation.
- Your loan program limits how much the seller can contribute. For a conventional loan on a home you’ll live in, the limit is 3%, 6% or 9% of the price, depending on how much you put down (3% with less than 10% down). FHA and VA loans have their own limits. The credit also can’t be more than your actual closing costs. In the example, 3% of $410,000 is $12,300, so a $10,000 credit fits.
- The home still has to appraise at the higher price. Lenders base the loan on the lower of the sales price or the appraised value. If the appraisal comes in at $400,000, the plan doesn’t work as written, and we’d need to renegotiate or cover the gap.
What It Really Costs You
Because the price is higher, you’re borrowing a little more, so your loan balance and monthly payment go up slightly. For many buyers, keeping cash in the bank at closing is worth that trade-off. Your lender can show you the numbers both ways.
This is one of those things where, how we write the offer, really matters.
Related: How we guide buyers · What is the option period in Texas? · Talk to us about your search
General information, not lending or legal advice. Seller contribution limits shown are Fannie Mae conventional loan guidelines as of 2025. Your lender will confirm what applies to your loan.
Read the video transcript
Real question I got from a buyer recently:
"Can we just add our closing costs to the sales price so we don't have to bring as much money to closing?"
Possibly! But here's how that actually works.
Let's say the house is $400,000 and you need $10,000 toward closing costs. We might structure an offer at a higher sales price and ask the seller to give you a $10,000 credit at closing.
BUT—there are a few moving parts.
The seller has to agree to it. Your loan program has limits on how much the seller can contribute. And most importantly, the house still has to appraise for that higher price.
So we're not technically "financing your closing costs," but the end result can be pretty similar.
This is one of those things where HOW we write the offer really matters.
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