After you shop around for an interest rate and commit to a lender, a loan, and a rate, you will be asked to “lock” the rate. A rate lock is a contract between you and the bank for a given interest rate, and it commits to a period of time in which you will get the process completed – lately the majority of our loans have been 45 day locks.
If your loan is locked and mortgage prices improve you don’t typically get to renegotiate. Likewise is if mortgage prices deteriorate, the bank doesn’t get to renegotiate with you. (We will cover the “float down” scenario, in which you can take advantage of a drop in interest rates in the next article).
Remember that we lock the rate with the commitment of finishing the entire loan process within that time period. If the period is set to finish without a loan, two things might happen – extend the lock or it expires. If the period expires, you face the possibility of fees, and of course you lose the rate you had locked in, thus running the risk of beginning the process again at a higher number.
Often, we will wait to lock in a rate until conditions are at their most advantageous. We watch the rates on a daily basis and make a recommendation about when to act. Make sure you work closely with your broker and stay on the page about when to lock the rate, and when you do, make sure you know the deadlines for every step of the process.
Creating an account is fast, easy, secure and FREE! Your account enables you to easily modify your loan application and view the status of your loan anytime day or night.
When you register for a Loan Center account, you can submit a loan application online and the sensitive information that you provide will be transmitted securely.
Kick your feet up while we crunch the numbers. Pre-approval can be done very quickly if you provide a complete and accurate loan application and supporting documentation.
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