I always advise my clients to lock in their interest rate at the earliest opportunity. Gambling with a client’s interest rate is never advisable. In my business, I have a standardized system in place that we adhere to for all of our clientele.

A mortgage loan cannot be closed without locking in a rate, and there are three main elements to take into consideration:

• Interest Rate
• Points
• Length of the lock

Locking in on a rate does not obligate the client to commit to the loan until the loan is actually closed. The lock simply eliminates any risk of the borrower being exposed to market volatility. It provides the security of having time to complete the mortgage and real estate transactions with some sense of order. The lender must disburse funds to complete the transaction within the rate-lock period, or else the original commitment to provide a loan at a certain interest rate will expire.

When a lender permits an extended lock-in period, the borrower will usually see either a higher interest rate or more points associated with the loan. The lender does this to minimize their own exposure to market volatility; hence the borrower pays for the lender to take on this risk.

For example, a 30-day rate lock commitment may cost the consumer one-half point, while a 60-day rate lock commitment could cost 1 full point. If the borrower needed an extended lock period, but did not want to pay points, the lender could make up the difference in the interest rate. In this case, typically, a 60-day lock would have a higher interest rate than a 30-day lock.

In my business, our standard procedure is to lock in a rate as quickly as possible once we have received the loan application. My team and I let our clients know that while interest rates fluctuate daily, most lenders do not want to lose any business. We know that in many cases, if there is a significant rally in the market that causes interest rates to drop .25% or more, we can ask the lender to renegotiate the rate. or understand that we will take the loan to another lender. Often the lender allows for a renegotiation of the rate to avoid losing the loan to another lender.

If we allow our clients to sit on the fence and not lock in a rate quickly, we would leave them exposed to market volatility. Then, if rates do increase, the borrower may be unable to qualify for the loan they want, which is a situation we try to avoid at all costs.

By knowing our clients’ needs and working intimately with them to make the right decisions, my team and I are proud to say that we have many clients who are raving fans.

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When it comes to mortgage loans and interest rates, it’s never a good idea to gamble. That’s why I typically advise my clients to lock in an interest rate at the earliest opportunity. This is just one step of the standardized system we have put in place to ensure the best possible loan experience for each borrower that we work with.

A mortgage loan cannot be closed without a locked-in rate, and there are three main elements to take into consideration:
Interest Rate
Points or fees
Length of the lock

Locking in a rate does not obligate the borrower to commit to the loan until the loan is actually closed. The lock is merely a security measure designed to eliminate the risk of market volatility throughout the duration of the purchase or refinance transaction. As long as the loan is approved and funded before the end of the lock period, the borrower will receive the interest rate quoted. 

When a lender permits an extended lock-in period, the borrower will likely face a higher interest rate or additional fees that could be quoted as points. In other words, the borrower pays for the lender to take on the extended risk of being exposed to potential changes in the market.

For example, let’s say a 30-day rate lock commitment costs the borrower one-half point, while a 60-day rate lock commitment costs one full point. If the borrower in this scenario needed the extended lock period, but did not want to pay points, then an alternative would be to accept a slightly higher interest rate. In this case, a 60-day lock would typically have a higher interest rate than a 30-day lock.

Our standard procedure is to lock in a rate as quickly as possible. My team and I want our clients to know that while interest rates fluctuate daily, most lenders do not want to lose any business because of it. If a significant rally causes interest rates to drop 0.25% or more, we know that we can most likely renegotiate the rate. In many cases, lenders prefer this option over losing the loan to another lender. On the other hand, if we’d allowed our clients to sit on the fence and not lock in their rate, we would have exposed them to market volatility without a safety net. Then, if rates were to increase, the borrower might no longer qualify for the loan they want – a situation that we want to avoid at all costs.

By knowing our clients’ needs and working intimately with them to make the right decisions early on, my team and I are proud to say that we have helped them to achieve their home ownership dreams.