Is it customary to ask seller of the home to help us with closing costs?

Yes, have your Realtor ask for a seller concession. This should help you cover some of the closing cost that you need help with.Thanks,Mel

We are in what they call a buyers market pretty much nationwide. This means that the buyer is primarily in control mainly because unlike 3 years ago there are not 5 more people waiting behind you to buy the property if your offer is not accepted. Becasue of this it is pretty standard at the moment for every buyer to make an offer on a property with an added clause asking for up to 6% of the purchase price from the seller to help pay closing costs/downpayment. Right now FHA or USDA both allow 6% sellers help however FHA still requires you to contribute atleast 3.5% out of your pocket where USDA is a 100% loan. With USDA you can actually get 6% closing help and close on a property with little or no money out of your pocket.

You can ask the seller for anything, its what ever you and the seller agree too. Now the bank might say that you can';t do that, but still you can have an agrement outside of escrow too.