“Being that jerk that I am, my realtor evenutally talked the person up to $435k, which was above my original asking price, but still far below what others were asking in the hood. The property closed escrow for $455k, of which $20k was given back to the buyer.”

In this case, the price of the home was raised to cover the $20,000 payment to the Buyer. The Seller didn’t make any concessions.

Something was manipulated (appraisal and loan?) to allow the Buyer to get an additional $20,000 from the Lender.