When you're offered a "rate lock" from your lender, it means that you are guaranteed to get a certain interest rate over a determined period for your application process. This saves you from going through your whole application process and discovering at the end that the interest rate has gotten higher.
Rate lock periods can be various lengths of time, between 15 to 60 days, with the longer ones usually costing more. A lending institution can agree to freeze an interest rate and points for a longer period, such as sixty days, but in exchange, the rate (and sometimes points) will be more than with a rate lock of a shorter period.
There are more ways to get a better rate, besides choosing a shorter rate lock period. A larger down payment will get you a better interest rate, since you'll have a good amount of equity from the beginning. You might choose to pay points to lower your rate over the loan term, meaning you pay more initially. To a lot of people, this makes financial sense..
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