With the inventory of unsold houses rising on a daily basis, it's time for sellers to consider taking a page out of the homebuilders' playbook -- especially when it comes to financing.

More than 70% of builders who spoke with researchers at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in November were offering some kind of incentive to attract buyers to their model houses. Builders, of course, have all sorts of tactics they can employ to attract traffic: reducing their prices, offering free upgrades and paying buyers' closing costs, to name a few. But the one used most often -- and usually the most effectively -- is the mortgage rate buydown.

With a temporary buydown, the builder pays a fee upfront to the lender in exchange for lowering the buyer's mortgage rate for a set period. The Burns firm found that roughly a third of the surveyed builders were buying down their rate on a temporary basis for two years, while another third bought their rate down for the entire term of a 30-year loan.

Buydowns come in all shapes and sizes: You can pay to drop the rate as low as you want for as long as you want. But, of course, the lower the rate and the longer the buydown, the more it will cost. Burns reports that builders are paying 5% to 6% of their homes' sales prices to lower their buyers' rates by 1% to 2% for the entire 30 years.

As an individual seller, you likely wouldn't want to give away that much. But for a lot less money, you can stair-step the buydown: The rate will be its lowest in the first year of the loan, slightly higher in the second, and then in the third year, the rate reverts to what it was when the loan was written.

The most popular buydown among builders seems to be the 2-1 model. They pay roughly 2% of the purchase price to lower the first-year rate by two percentage points and the second-year rate by 1 percentage point. In other words, if market rates are 6%, the homebuyer's rate would be 4% the first year, 5% the second year and 6% thereafter.

A buyer will still have to qualify at the highest rate that will occur during the 30-year term -- 6%, in the example above. Some buyers may not qualify, but those who do could get some relief from higher payments for 24 months.

In some regards, a buydown is similar to an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM): The rate, and therefore the payment, is lower in the beginning of the loan, then rises after a set period. If you're selling your place, you can suggest that your buyer consider an ARM.

Today's ARMs are not the same as those that helped bring the housing market to its knees in 2008, precipitating a financial crisis and the Great Recession. Back then, one- and two-year ARMs with super-low starting rates and no documentation requirements were dangled before any buyer who could fog a mirror.

Since then, federal regulators have tightened the rules. Most loans now have a fixed starting period of five, seven or even 10 years before the rate adjusts, according to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. The extended time frame allows borrowers to build enough equity to reduce the risk of foreclosure. And by the first adjustment, the thinking goes, most borrowers will have refinanced into a fixed-rate loan.

Another possibility: If your home loan is backed by Uncle Sam -- that is, by the Federal Housing Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs -- it may be assumable, meaning a qualified borrower can simply take over your mortgage. If the loan has a low enough rate, says Florida agent Cara Ameer, "it could be a huge selling tool."

Texas broker Erika Rae Albert agrees: "Sellers with an assumable loan should be clearly advertising this unique selling feature."

Again, though, your buyer will have to meet your lender's approval. They'll also have to come up with the difference between the purchase price and the outstanding loan amount, which means either a larger down payment or a second mortgage, which will also have to be cleared by the lender.

There are other financing techniques, too, but they are more dangerous. One involves funding the deal yourself; the other is called a "wraparound mortgage."

If you own your place outright, you can agree to be your buyer's lender. If you still owe part of your mortgage, but the outstanding balance is low enough that it's covered by your buyer's down payment, you can pay off your loan and still act as the lender.

Here, you must be as diligent as a regular lender would be. Look over your buyer's bank statements and tax returns; verify their employment and credit score. Since you are the lender, you get to dictate the interest rate, the length of the loan and other terms.

A wraparound involves two loans: your original loan with your lender and a new loan with your buyer. You would continue to pay your mortgage and charge your buyer a higher rate on the other loan, with the difference going in your pocket. Again, though, you have to be extremely diligent. Consider employing a real estate attorney to put the deal together.

Would you design and buy a home entirely online -- picking everything from the lot to the cabinets without ever seeing or touching them in person? Many people say they would, according to a company that's leading builders in that direction.

And when it came time to sell, what if you could spruce up your place to today's standards without spending a dime of your own money until the house sold?

These are two of the hottest trends in housing today. But in the case of purchasing a new house, buyers are light-years ahead of builders. "We are playing catch-up," says Jay McKenzie of BDX, a digital marketing company for homebuilders.

In a recent survey of 1,000 shoppers visiting NewHomeSource.com, a site where folks can search for newly built houses, 1 in 4 said they'd be happy to purchase their homes entirely online. Many would even pay their deposits, closing fees and design consultation charges online.

And why not? After all, today's consumers buy everything else online. Even automobiles: Customers look at the available inventory and pick the model, color and options. They might only visit the dealership to take a test drive and validate the paperwork.

To catch the trend, BDX is building an e-commerce program for homebuilders. In the initial phase, buyers can put down a deposit to reserve the lot of their choice. But eventually, according to McKenzie, the program will do much more.

Working with a group of builders who see the internet as the next great sales frontier, BDX has mapped out a consensus of what steps in the buying process it can bring online, and in what order.

One facet will allow visitors to a builder's website to walk through an entire model home that does not exist, eliminating the need to erect and maintain an expensive sample house. Another would create an online design center where buyers could view the myriad choices available to customize their purchases.

The online center would feature hundreds of thousands of products, all with prices listed, so you can look at flooring, lighting, appliances, countertops, cabinets and more until you find exactly what you want at a price you can afford. "Everything would be in the library," says McKenzie.

Some builders might even add furniture to their offerings. After all, many new homebuyers purchase furnishings shortly after they move in, so why not make it easier?

This so-called Dreamweaver component will not only obviate the need for costly on-site design centers. It also puts an end to what some builders call "design center divorce court," where spouses battle over selections, sometimes to the point where they throw up their hands in disgust and cancel the deal altogether.

Like they do in the auto sector, customers will make their selections through Dreamweaver from the comfort of their current residences and head to the sales office only to finalize things.

But what about selling your house? Many owners value speed above all else. They believe the quicker the place sells, the better -- less hassle, less intrusion, fewer headaches.

But in pursuing a speedy sale, they often leave money on the table. How much? That's impossible to say, since each case is different. But one source says it could be as much as six figures.

Many sellers try to maximize their gains by doing minor repairs, adding a fresh coat of paint and staging the place in order to secure a higher price. Some folks even go so far as to make major renovations such as remodeling their kitchens or finishing their basements. Those who do often base their improvements on what their real estate agents suggest will catch a buyer's eye. And many agents, in turn, seem to base their recommendations on the annual Cost vs. Value survey from Remodeling Magazine.

That study is a good first look at the localized cost of kitchen and bathroom remodels, new windows, doors and other upgrades, as well as how much they might add to a home's value. But it sometimes raises the hackles of agents, who complain it is far too specific to be useful to most sellers.

Enter presale renovation firms that offer, among other advantages, to help sellers take the guesswork out of the equation and pay for the work so there is no out-of-pocket cost to the owner. They hire the contractors to do the job and wait to be paid when the house sells. They also take over the back-office functions that often cause otherwise qualified contractors to fail.

Such companies "provide the entire back office so the contractor can pick up a hammer and do the best job possible," says Michael Alladawi, founder and CEO of Revive Real Estate.

The Compass real estate brokerage is often credited with starting this business model, now utilized by companies like Revive, Curbio and others. Revive just signed a deal with The Keyes Company, a major Florida brokerage, to help clients maximize their profits. And Curbio just signed on to a pilot program with Consumer Reports.

What kind of money are we talking about here? Revive says its clients obtain an additional $186,000 in profits when selling their upgraded homes. That's not a typo -- and it's not chicken feed, either.

As if rising mortgage rates and high house prices aren't enough, homebuyers in the new year are going to have to contend with higher fees to obtain their credit reports. In some instances, a credit report will cost 400% more in 2023 than it did in 2022.

According to the National Consumer Reporting Association, the Fair Isaac Corporation -- aka FICO -- is raising its price less than 10% to a select group of about 46 lenders. The company is behind the FICO scores many lenders use to rate applicants' ability to make their mortgage payments.

Six lenders will pay about 200% more, and the rest will pay four times what they were.

Lenders usually pay to run a credit check and obtain a score for every loan applicant, then collect the cost from those who pass muster at the closing table.

In a memo to lenders, NCRA Executive Director Terry Clemans called the price hike "massive," saying, "This is a paradigm shift in the pricing structure for credit scores." He said that the change is being "dictated" by all three national credit bureaus -- TransUnion, Equifax and Experian -- and FICO.

One of the tallest skyscrapers in the U.S. outside of New York City is planned for downtown Austin near the University of Texas. Shovels will hit the dirt next year on the 1,035-foot, 80-story structure, which will hold 450 apartments.

Of course, the building still won't hold a candle to New York's tallest: the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center. Or, for that matter, the world's tallest: the 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

But if you want to shoot for the moon, consider that a real estate brokerage based in Turks and Caicos has opened what is reputed to be the first-ever realty office in the metaverse. The office will "reside" in the virtual world of Decentraland.

To entice borrowers who fear being stuck with 7% interest rates on their mortgages, some lenders are offering to refinance loans for free if rates should fall.

But, borrower, beware: Most lenders are adding the fees for a potential refi into the cost of the original loan. So your rate could be .25% or more higher than you might find at a competing lender.

The moral, of course, is to shop around.

Savvy homebuyers can lower their mortgage costs a tad by opting for a loan that will be purchased from their lenders by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Loans acquired by the two government-sponsored enterprises can cost anywhere from an eighth of a percentage point to a half-point less than other mortgages. That's because the investors who buy the GSEs' securities believe that Uncle Sam will stand behind any mortgage that goes in default.

And starting next year, buyers in dozens of high-cost markets throughout the country can borrow up to a whopping $1,089,300 and still catch the price break. It's the first time the so-called conforming loan limit has passed the million-dollar threshold.

Virginia alone holds 18 high-cost counties, while neighboring Maryland has five. New Jersey and New York contain 12 and 10 such counties, respectively. Even Idaho and West Virginia have one high-cost county each.

The limit for most of the rest of the country will be $726,200 in 2023, which is a 12.1% increase from this year's ceiling of $647,200.

Meanwhile, the limit for government-insured FHA loans in high-cost markets also will be $1,089,300 in 2023, while the "floor" will be $472,030. Government-backed mortgages are often considered loans of last resort for buyers who are unable to qualify for conventional financing.

Finally, according to the Census Bureau, a record 111,000 new homes have been permitted but not yet started as builders face high mortgage rates and diminishing demand. That's about double the normal level, housing blogger Bill McBride points out.

Builders are also losing deals at an alarming rate as buyers cancel their contracts. According to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, 1 in 4 sales were lost in October. And at the same time, the level of houses currently under construction is at an elevated level, with nearly a six-month supply underway at the current sales rate.

No wonder many builders are offering incentives and/or cutting prices to attract buyers. In November, the National Association of Home Builders reports, over 3 out of 5 builders were offering to buy-down mortgage rates, pay all or some closing costs or hand out free options and upgrades. And more than a third were slashing prices.

But NAHB Economist Paul Emrath reminds us that those numbers are a far cry from the lengths builders went to during the 2007-08 financial crisis. In October '07, nearly 60% of all builders had trimmed their prices by an average of 7%. So far this year, the typical reduction is 5%.

Incentives, on the other hand, have always been part of the sales strategy when the market softens. During the 2007-08 crisis, well over 70% of builders offered one or more freebies. In December '08, a whopping 86% were giving something away.