A rate "lock" or "commitment" is a promise from the lender to freeze a specific interest rate and a specific number of points for you for a specified period of time while your application is processed. This ensures that your interest rate won't go up while you are working through the application process.
Although there may be a choice of rate lock periods (from 15 to 60 days), the longer spans are generally more expensive. You can get a longer period for your lock, but in doing so, will most likely have a higher interest rate than you would have with a shorter span of time
In addition to choosing the shorter rate lock period, there are other ways you may be able to attain the lowest rate. The bigger down payment you pay, the better the interest rate will be, as you will have more equity from the beginning. You could choose to pay points to improve your interest rate for the loan term, meaning you pay more initially. To many people, this makes financial sense..
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