When you are promised a "rate lock" from the lender, it means that you are guaranteed to keep a certain interest rate over a determined period for your application process. This keeps you from working through your entire application process and discovering at the end that your interest rate has risen higher.
Rate lock periods can vary in length, anywhere from fifteen to sixty days, with the longer ones typically costing more. A lender can agree to lock in an interest rate and points for a longer span of time, say 60 days, but in exchange, the rate (and sometimes points) will be higher than with a rate lock of a shorter period.
There are other ways to get a better rate, besides going with a shorter rate lock period. The larger down payment you pay, the better the interest rate will be, since you will be starting with more equity. You can pay points to improve your interest rate for the loan term, meaning you pay more initially. To a lot of people, this makes financial sense..
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