A rate lock holds your rate and pricing terms for a set period. Once locked, your terms hold if the market moves up — and they hold if it moves down, too.

But you can't lock whenever you like. On a purchase, locking becomes possible once you're under contract and the property address is set. A pre-approval alone isn't enough. On a refinance, it comes after your application is submitted and approved. Locks run on business days only, and available start times and daily cutoffs follow company policy.

The length works backward from your scheduled closing date, not from a rate forecast. There's a trade-off built in: longer locks are safer, but pricing gets less favorable as the period stretches. So neither stretching it as far as possible nor cutting it close is the right answer. A file with documents ready and a firm date, a standard purchase, and a new-construction timeline set months out all call for different lengths.

One thing worth knowing. A lock fixes your rate — it is not loan approval. Final approval is confirmed once underwriting is complete. And the stretch between lock and closing is precisely when nothing should change. If your loan amount, credit score, LTV, property type, or occupancy shifts, pricing may be recalculated.

If closing runs late, extending costs money. Letting the lock expire resets pricing to the market at that moment, and re-locking is subject to a waiting period measured from your original lock date, which narrows your options. So if your timeline looks like it may slip, telling us before the expiration date rather than at it is the only reliable way to limit the cost. We confirm your lock terms and expiration in writing and manage the schedule with you.