What does it mean to lock in a rate?

[nicktheman]

My lender said she was going to try and lock in a rate tonight at 5.5%, but then she emailed me saying that she wasn't able to and that rates were going up again.  That we should wait to lock it when it does back down.  What does that mean exactly?  If she locks it then it will be that rate when I close? 

[DallasLoanGuy]

Locked rate = rate you close with.... if you close before the lock expires.

Basically, money is hedged and committed to sell at a future date with that interest rate on it. Big time wall street finance stuff.

[nicktheman]

Where can I watch the rate so I can call my lender as soon as it goes down again?

[KG]

If you empower your loan officer to lock your rate the second it hits 5.5%, then call you to let you know, I think that's a more efficient solution. You can check FHA rates online at bankrate.com, but I don't think they always are reflective of what your own loan officer is looking at.

I know our loan officer got rates in around 11:00a ET each morning and we checked in then to hear what they were, but in the end, it made more sense for us to tell him to just lock us in the second it hit 5.5%, that way he didn't need to track us down at work to get our approval, then lock. He did that the first couple of times when we were floating and we missed the 5.5% by the time my fiance and I called him back (45 minutes later). On the third try, he got the rate, locked us in, then called with the good news.