When you're offered a "rate lock" from a lender, it means that you are guaranteed to keep a set interest rate over a certain number of days for your application process. This means your interest rate cannot rise during the application process.
Rate lock periods can be various lengths of time, anywhere from 15 to 60 days, with the longer ones generally costing more. You can get a longer period for your lock, but in making this choice, will probably have a higher interest rate than you would have with a shorter rate lock period
There are more ways to get a better rate, in addition to going with a shorter rate lock period. A bigger down payment will get you a reduced interest rate, since you will be starting out with a good deal of equity. You can pay points to lower your rate over the life of the loan, meaning you pay more initially. For a lot of people, this makes financial sense..
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