As the housing market normalizes and the bubble deflates many sellers and their realtors (the goods ones) are putting more effort into getting a house sold. One of these most worthwhile efforts is a buyer buy-down.

A buy-down is an incentive in which the seller makes up-front payments to reduce the buyer's mortgage rate.

There are several good options available. Usually a seller will offer a 2-1 buy-down where he/she pays for 2 percentage points the first year and 1 point the second year.

The buy-down is definitely worth looking into in a tougher market. Here are 5 reasons why a buy-down works:

• Brings more interested buyers (increases showings)
• Lower's buyer's monthly costs
• Increases affordability for buyers
• Offers savings without lower listing price
• Immediate advantage for buyer